FYI: When I write "Mixed" partisan support, I mean that it's not a partisan issue, and that many in both parties have opposing viewpoints
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Prop 51: $9 billion in school bonds
NO
Reason: More debt heaped upon California, which will undoubtedly be wasted and poorly supervised. Even Democrat Jerry Brown is against this, calling it a “wall of debt”.
How important is this one to me? Moderate
How likely to pass? Somewhat likely
Partsan support: Mixed
Prop 52: Medical Fee Charged to Hospitals (Extend current program)
YES
Reason: Almost everyone seems to be in support of this. Complicated proposition, but seems to be preventing legislature from diverting these dollars elsewhere.
How important to me? Unimportant.
How likely to pass? Very likely
Partisan support: Both
Prop 53: Require Voter Approval for Revenue Bonds to Be Issued or Sold
YES
Reason: Prevents state government from passing expensive state bonds programs over $2 billion without voters having a say
How important to me? Moderate
How likely to pass? Extremely likely
Partisan support: Both, but stronger from Republicans
Prop 54: Transparency – All legislature sessions recorded, except closed sessions, and all bills must be posted to internet for 72 hours before passing (except emergency ones)
YES
Reason: Prevents backdoor BS laws from being passed before public can find out about them, increases transparency
How important to me? Moderate
How likely to pass? Extremely likely
Partisan support: Both, but stronger from Republicans
Prop 55: 12 more years of higher taxes for people making $250k or more, supposedly to fund health care
NO
Reason: This extends a “temporary” tax passed 4 years ago, this time through 2028. CA has the highest top-bracket taxes in the nation. Time to lower it back down to more reasonable levels.
How important to me? Very important
How likely to pass? Likely
Partisan support: Democrats
Prop 56: Cigarette tax increase by $2/pack
NO
Reason: I see pros and cons. I don’t love huge tax increases on things like this, and I feel it will mainly punish the poor. It seems that most of the tax collected will go into supposed prevention programs, but I am not sure these are very effective. Also, much of this money will go to insurance companies related in some way to Medi-Cal, but the oversight of the usage of these funds seems poor and confusing. I just think this whole thing is a mess, and most of the money acquired seems like it will be wasted.
How important to me? Unimportant
How likely to pass? Likely
Partisan support: Mixed, but more Democrats
Prop 57 : Modifies (loosens) parole requirements
NO
Reason: Waters down previous tough-on-crime propositions passed, by allowing inmates to get parole much earlier. Written in a fashion to make it look like only “non violent” felons will be eligible, but it appears this is full of holes, and many violent felonies will also make the list as being eligible for early parole. Keep serious criminals locked up for as long as possible. With crime going back up, the last thing we need is for them to be back on the streets sooner.
How important to me? Important
How likely to pass? Extremely likely
Partisan support: Democrats
Prop 58: (Fake) English Proficiency Requirement for Public Schools
NO
Reason: I wrote “fake” because this misleading proposition repeals a 1998 proposition (227) which required classes to be taught in English. This was due to failures of the public school system where they would teach classes in Spanish to illegal immigrant children, and it would drag on for years without these kids ever learning English. The 1998 change was a success, and these children suddenly picked up English far quicker than before. This proposition claims to establish transition programs from Spanish to English, but seems to contain loopholes to basically go back to Spanish-only if the school chooses to have such classes, and is a direct assault on Prop 227 from 1998. Interestingly, focus groups studying voter response to this proposition showed that most voters are misled about it, and that support falls off a cliff if voters are told that it's actually a repeat to (mostly popular) prop 227. Sneaky!
How important to me? Unimportant
How likely to pass? Very likely
Partisan support: Democrats
Prop 59: Control political spending of corporations
NO
Reason: On the surface, this seems like a good idea. However, this is a terribly-written proposition which is all bark and no bite. It does nothing and means nothing. It basically states an opinion to Congress about how Californians feel about the matter. It changes no law, and has no binding elements. Opponents have accurately criticized this proposition as “clogging the ballot”, “misleading”, “useless”, and “wasting our money”. I agree. I don’t like voting for any proposition with a description of, “Asks whether California’s elected officials should...” Asks? Asks? Come on. Propositions should take action, not ask questions.
How important to me? Unimportant.
How likely to pass? Likely
Partisan support: Mixed
Prop 60: Require usage of condoms in porn films
NO
Reason: Opens up all kinds of new lawsuits (many frivolous) against any porn producer who doesn’t “comply” with a new list of requirements – including many which are difficult to prove (such as “injury” on the job). Whole premise is stupid. Government should not interfere with the production of pornography. It’s pretty clear that most porn actors/actresses aren’t likely living very healthy/safe lifestyles anyway, so who is this really protecting? Government doesn’t need to have its hands into everything.
How important to me? Unimportant.
How likely to pass? Likely
Partisan support: Mixed
Prop 61: Pricing Standards for Prescription Drugs
NO
Reason: This is a complicated and controversial proposition, which seems great on the surface, but appears very flawed. It attempts to prevent drug companies from jacking up the cost of prescription drugs to absurdly high levels, figuring that at the very least, certain taxpayer-funded programs can’t be charged these outrageous prices. However, it is flawed in so many ways. It arbitrarily picks and chooses a few groups of patients to protect, while not stopping this practice against Medi-Cal, private health insurance, or individual health insurance. The author of the measure has a conflict of interest, and wrote in an exemption for his own company. Whole thing seems like a giant mess, and quite misleading.
How important to me? Unimportant.
How likely to pass? Likely
Partisan support: Mixed
Prop 62: Repeal death penalty
NO
Reason: Death penalty in California is getting close to reform (see prop 66), where executions will come much faster. (People have been sitting on death row for decades, due to an unnecessarily long appeals process). This prop is sponsored by the usual death penalty opponents, who think it’s “cruel and unusual” punishment, no matter how awful the criminal. Death penalty also allows prosecutors to strike life-without-parole plea bargains with criminals, by simply taking death off the table. Without this bargaining chip, these criminals will sometimes roll the dice and win in court, or they will be able to plea down to non-life sentences.
How important to me? Very important.
How likely to pass? Somewhat unlikely
Partisan support: Democrats
Prop 63: Gun/Ammo Sales Law Reform
NO
Reason: Under the guise of stopping mass-murder attacks we’ve seen recently, these seem like a bunch of useless new laws which are easy to skirt if you’re not a law abiding citizen. Contains silly new laws such as “requires people to notify law enforcement if guns are stolen”, “requires dangerous criminals to sell their guns and ammo” (lol!), and “people convicted of gun theft won’t be allowed to own guns” (bigger lol!) Basically if you’re about to commit a terrorist act, you’re not going to give a crap about any of these lame statutes, and this proposition does little to prevent guns from getting into the hands of terrorists or dangerous criminals.
How important to me? Moderate
How likely to pass? Extremely likely
Partisan support: Both, but more Democrats
Prop 64: Legalization of marijuana
NO
Reason: Will worsen the drug problem in California, and will essentially be the gateway to pot smoking becoming as popular/common as alcohol use. I would actually be in favor of a decriminalization of use (but not for sale) of marijuana, as this just clogs our jails and courts, but not to outright legalize it and make it openly simple and easy for anyone of age to obtain pot for recreational use.
How important to me? Moderate
How likely to pass? Likely
Partisan support: Mixed, but more Democrats
Prop 65: Divert money collected from plastic bag sales at supermarkets to state environmental fund
YES
Reason: Some cities like Los Angeles already have the plastic bag law in place, forcing grocery store operators to charge 10c per bag, and to keep it for themselves. This would force the stores to ship that money to the state for environmental uses. Personally I’d like to see the plastic bag charging thing go away completely, but if it’s going to stay (or increase to the entire state), at least I want the money to be doing something useful, rather than further enriching the greedy grocery stores which lobbied for these bag laws in the first place!
How important to me? Moderate
How likely to pass? No data
Partisan support: Mixed, but more Republicans
Prop 66: Death Penalty Reform
YES
Reason: Speeds up entire death penalty process. Assigns defendant a special appeals lawyer immediately, which previously has taken years for no apparent reason. State appeals limited to 5 years, which previous have spanned decades. Death row inmates will lose various privileges they currently enjoy while awaiting their execution (which again, often takes decades), at least deceasing their quality of life after committing heinous crimes. State Supreme Court will be empowered to do more as far as expediting the appeals process while overseeing that it’s all done fairly. This is what we have needed for a long time.
How important to me? Very important
How likely to pass? Somewhat likely
Partisan support: Republicans
Prop 67: Plastic bag ban
NO
Reason: This is false environmentalism. Plastic bags will still be available, but they’ll cost 10 cents, and will be thicker plastic. How is that doing us any good environmentally? There will be E-Coli concerns with the reusable bags. Unless Prop 65 passes, the money collected ($300 million estimated) will all go into additional profits for grocery stores.
How important to me? Very important
How likely to pass? Somewhat likely
Partisan support: Mixed, but more Democrats