The Secretary of State has assigned proposition numbers to the legislative, initiative and referendum measures set to appear on the November ballot.
Following is the list of 17 ballot measures with the California Chamber of Commerce position noted when there is one. The CalChamber Board of Directors will be considering positions on other measures in September.
• Proposition 51: CalChamber Supports
School Bonds. Funding for K-12 School and Community College Facilities. Initiative Statutory Amendment. Authorizes $9 billion in general obligation bonds: $3 billion for new construction and $3 billion for modernization of K-12 public school facilities; $1 billion for charter schools and vocational education facilities; and $2 billion for California Community Colleges facilities.
• Proposition 52: CalChamber Supports
State Fees on Hospitals. Federal Medi-Cal Matching Funds. Initiative Statutory and Constitutional Amendment. Increases required vote to two-thirds for the Legislature to amend a certain existing law that imposes fees on hospitals (for purpose of obtaining federal Medi-Cal matching funds) and that directs those fees and federal matching funds to hospital-provided Medi-Cal health care services, to uncompensated care provided by hospitals to uninsured patients, and to children’s health coverage.
• Proposition 53: CalChamber Opposes
Revenue Bonds. Statewide Voter Approval. Initiative Constitutional Amendment. Requires statewide voter approval before any revenue bonds can be issued or sold by the state for projects that are financed, owned, operated, or managed by the state or any joint agency created by or including the state, if the bond amount exceeds $2 billion.
• Proposition 54: CalChamber Supports
Legislature. Legislation and Proceedings. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute. Prohibits Legislature from passing any bill unless it has been in print and published on the Internet for at least 72 hours before the vote, except in public emergency. Requires Legislature to make audiovisual recordings of all proceedings, except closed sessions, and post them on the Internet.
• Proposition 55: CalChamber Opposes
Tax Extension to Fund Education and Healthcare. Initiative Constitutional Amendment. Extends by 12 years the temporary personal income tax increases enacted in 2012 on earnings over $250,000 (for single filers; over $500,000 for joint filers; over $340,000 for heads of household).
• Proposition 56
Cigarette Tax to Fund Healthcare, Tobacco Use Prevention, Research, and Law Enforcement. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute. Increases cigarette tax by $2 per pack, with equivalent increase on other tobacco products and electronic cigarettes containing nicotine. Allocates revenues primarily to increase funding for existing health care programs; also for tobacco use prevention/control programs, tobacco-related disease research and law enforcement, University of California physician training, dental disease prevention programs, and administration. Excludes these revenues from Proposition 98 funding requirements.
• Proposition 57
Criminal Sentences. Juvenile Criminal Proceedings and Sentencing. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute. Allows parole consideration for persons convicted of nonviolent felonies upon completion of full prison term for primary offense, as defined. Authorizes Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to award sentence credits for rehabilitation, good behavior, or educational achievements.
• Proposition 58
English language education. SB 1174 (Lara; D-Bell Gardens; Chapter 753, Statutes of 2014). Amends and repeals various provisions of Proposition 227, approved by voters in June 1998 and requiring among other things, that all children in California public schools be taught English by being taught in English. Proposition 58, among other things, deletes the sheltered English immersion requirement and waiver provisions, and instead provides that school districts and county offices of education shall, at a minimum, provide English learners with a structured English immersion program, as specified. The proposition also authorizes parents or legal guardians of pupils enrolled in the school to choose a language acquisition program that best suits their child, as provided.
• Proposition 59
Campaign finance: voter instruction. SB 254 (B. Allen; D-Santa Monica; Chapter 20, Statutes of 2016). Asks whether California’s elected officials should use all their constitutional authority, including proposing and ratifying one or more amendments to the U.S. Constitution, to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) 558 U.S. 310, and other applicable judicial precedents, as specified.
• Proposition 60
Adult Films. Condoms. Health Requirements. Initiative Statute. Requires performers in adult films to use condoms during filming of sexual intercourse. Requires producers of adult films to pay for performer vaccinations, testing, and medical examinations related to sexually transmitted infections.
• Proposition 61: CalChamber Opposes
State Prescription Drug Purchases. Pricing Standards. Initiative Statute. Prohibits state agencies from paying more for a prescription drug than the lowest price paid for the same drug by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
• Proposition 62
Death Penalty. Initiative Statute. Repeals death penalty as maximum punishment for persons found guilty of murder and replaces it with life imprisonment without possibility of parole. Applies retroactively to persons already sentenced to death.
• Proposition 63
Firearms. Ammunition Sales. Initiative Statute. Prohibits possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines, and requires their disposal by sale to dealer, destruction, or removal from state. Requires most individuals to pass background check and obtain Department of Justice authorization to purchase ammunition.
• Proposition 64
Marijuana Legalization. Initiative Statute. Legalizes marijuana and hemp under state law. Designates state agencies to license and regulate marijuana industry. Imposes state excise tax on retail sales of marijuana equal to 15% of sales price, and state cultivation taxes on marijuana of $9.25 per ounce of flowers and $2.75 per ounce of leaves. Exempts medical marijuana from some taxation. Establishes packaging, labeling, advertising, and marketing standards and restrictions for marijuana products. Allows local regulation and taxation of marijuana.
• Proposition 65
Carry-Out Bags. Charges. Initiative Statute. Redirects money collected by grocery and certain other retail stores through sale of carry-out bags, whenever any state law bans free distribution of a particular kind of carry-out bag and mandates the sale of any other kind of carry-out bag. Requires stores to deposit bag sale proceeds into a special fund administered by the Wildlife Conservation Board to support specified categories of environmental projects.
• Proposition 66
Death Penalty. Procedures. Initiative Statute. Changes procedures governing state court appeals and petitions challenging death penalty convictions and sentences.
• Proposition 67
Referendum to Overturn Ban on Single-Use Plastic Bags. The challenged law must be approved by a majority of voters to go into effect. The law prohibits grocery and certain other retail stores from providing single-use bags but permits sale of recycled paper bags and reusable bags.
More information on the ballot measures is available at www.sos.ca.gov.
