California
Battling anger and indifference on the part of California voters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger implored them Sunday not to make the state “the poster child for dysfunction” by defeating a host of measures on Tuesday’s ballot that seek to restructure the state’s bleak finances.
A recent poll indicates that five out of the six budget-related ballot measures next week’s special election will fail. Proposition 1F, which will limit elected officials salaries, is the only measure that is polling ahead.
Last year California Proposition 2 was passed by voters and placed minimum size restrictions on cages for chickens on farms. A bill in the state Assembly would extend those rules to apply to eggs from out of state.
The California Green Party has come out against all six measures on the May 19 ballot. The party came to the decision after polling its members.
A committee advocating a growth measure in Morgan Hill, CA could be fined up to $5,000 for failing to put their name on a mailer that they sent to 7,800 residents.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is facing yet another moment of truth.
Having barely squeaked through a last-minute budget deal in February to close a $42 billion deficit, he now faces a May 19 special election with six ballot measures intended to fix the state’s dysfunctional budget process for good.
Students are learning the power of initiative and referendum.
At the University of Berkley student Rachel Barge co-created the Green Initiative Fund, a student fee referendum put on the university ballot asking students to pay $5 a semester for a sustainability fund.
When Californians vote in the May 19 special election, the state budget will hang in the balance.
That fragile compromise Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger crafted with Democratic lawmakers and a handful of legislators from his own party a couple of months ago didn’t erase all the $40 billion of red ink that threatened to shut down Sacramento.
The backers of Prop. 1A forgot a key rule: Keep it simple for the voters.
From Sacramento — Back in 1973, then-Gov. Ronald Reagan called a special election to sell voters on his proposed tax and spending limit. It was complex and convoluted.
Not even the great communicator could explain it. Opponents convinced many Californians it would lead to higher local taxes.
The California Supreme Court declared that the city of Salinas did not violate the law in its campaign against a tax-cutting measure. City Measure O, which failed after the city launched a campaign against it in 2002, would have cut the city’s utility tax by almost $8 million. Supporters of that measure fear that this decision will lead to more taxpayer-funded campaigning.
Riverside County supervosors are considering putting a measure on the ballot to ask voters if they have confidence in electronic voting machines. In 2007 California Secretary of State Debra Bowen decertified the machines, citing security vulnerabilities, and then set conditions for their limited use.
59th California District Assemblyman Anthony Adams was handed recall papers at a fundraising event where Gov. Arnold Swarzenegger was in attendance. Adams is targeted because of his vote to increase taxes.
A recent poll indicates that none of the five budget related measures that will appear in a May 19 special election have majority support in southern counties. The only measure polling with voter support is a proposition that will freeze legislators’ salaries in deficit years. That measure enjoys over 80% support.
Children of illegal immigrants would no longer be granted automatic citizenship under a proposed California ballot measure.