California is special — well, you all already know that. One particular way is our ballot proposition system, wherein voters can participate in direct democracy by voting initiatives into law every election. This November, there are 10 propositions upon whose fates we will decide. But on the ballot, they don’t always have the most helpful names, and they can be heavy on legalese and/or propagandistic framing.
Fear not! Here’s your guide to each proposition, along with an unofficial recommendation on which way to vote.
Prop 2, School Funding: You know how public schools provide free education to everyone? Do you want them to get $10 billion in bond revenue and assurances that they won’t lose out on funding just because property taxes are too low? If so, vote yes. If you hate children, vote no. (In fact, there’s no official opposition campaign to this one. Ignore the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association; they’re just plain evil.)
Prop 3, Marriage Equality: This repeals one of California’s most reactionary decisions — the 2008 measure that enshrined marriage as between a man and a woman in our state constitution. Vote yes if you are a tolerant person. If you hate when people make marital decisions without random bureaucrats getting in the way, vote no.
Prop 4, Environmental and Water Infrastructure: This proposition would designate $10 billion in bond revenue to fund environmental protection, water preservation, energy and park projects. Do you like having clean water and air? If so, vote yes. If not, what?
Prop 5, Lowering Threshold for Local Control: This one’s a bit confusing; it reduces the threshold from 67 percent to 55 percent for local jurisdictions to issue bonds for affordable housing and infrastructure projects. Basically, it makes it easier to build affordable housing, but could also lead to higher property taxes. On balance, it’s expected to reduce housing costs for the poor. If you support that, vote yes. If not, reconsider.
Prop 6, Abolishes Slavery: Yes, you read that right — slavery is officially legal in California! Remember, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution bans slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for a crime. This proposition would eliminate that edge case and guarantee that slavery is illegal. Obviously, vote yes.
Prop 32, Minimum Wage Increase: This would increase the statewide minimum wage from $15 to $18/hr in a phased-in system, with the exact speed depending on the number of employees a business has. Vote yes if you want more money, since I doubt most of you are employers of minimum-wage jobs.
Prop 33, Repealing State Prohibition on Local Initiation of Rent Control: This one is phrased confusingly; double negatives are always tough. Essentially, if passed, this proposition would make it easier for local jurisdictions to enact rent control on more properties, a process banned by the Costa Hawkins Rental Act. Rent control is a very divisive subject, with advocates pointing to its ability to provide immediate relief. However, others argue that rent control disincentivizes the construction of new housing, further contributing to the housing crisis. Consider your vote carefully on this one.
Prop 34, Spending Requirements for Medi-Cal Rx Participants: This one might be the most dense piece of legalese on the ballot, but it’s actually really important! One of the most crucial aspects of Obamacare was its requirement that health insurance companies spend at least 80 percent of their government funding on patient care, or else lose their license. This is a similar initiative: it would require participants in California’s public insurance system (Medi-Cal) that spend >$100M to devote 98 percent of their revenues to direct patient care. You might expect this is some standard policy requiring that healthcare companies actually invest in, you know, healthcare. But there’s a catch: this is actually a Republican-backed campaign whose provisions specifically target the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, whom they oppose because of AHF’s support of rent control — this proposition would force AHF to redirect what are now renter advocacy funds. The only organization that is categorized as eligible Medi-Cal Rx Participants here is the AHF, because the crafters of this proposition are entirely motivated out of resentment. I don’t actually know which way to go on this proposition: I think it’s a good policy idea, as companies receiving Medi-Cal funding should be subject to some spending scrutiny, but I’m not sure I want to end up on the same side as some of the people pushing this.
Prop 35, Tax on Managed Care Organizations: This one makes permanent a now-temporary tax on MCOs, which would end up providing steadier funding for Medi-Cal. In general, Medi-Cal is funded by discretionary funding on an as-needed basis. This proposition would guarantee part of its funding. This proposition is amazingly supported by both the California Republican and Democratic parties, but has been criticized by the League of Women Voters for locking funding to Medi-Cal instead of being more flexible. If you’re a fan of Al Gore’s lockbox idea (in the 2000 election, he made a big deal of protecting Medicare funding), and don’t want to risk defunding Medi-Cal, vote yes. If you’re worried about budget flexibility, vote no.
Prop 36, Increasing Penalties for Drug Crimes: This proposition is an attempt to crack down on drug use by increasing mandatory sentence lengths and mandating treatment for some offenses. It’s supported by law enforcement organizations, and opposed by drug policy experts. If you think the War on Drugs was a good idea and we should continue it, vote yes. If you have a functioning brain, vote no.
I hope this was helpful in navigating your ballot! For more information, Ballotpedia has great summaries of the ballot measures along with arguments for and against them.
Akshay Seetharam (HM ’27) is better-known for making the weekly crosswords, which you can find below this opinion. He will gladly offer you several rants against the horrific faux-intellectualism of the Second Viennese School and how they perverted Western art music. He is usually a shill for the Democratic Party, and finds disagreeing with them on housing policy very difficult.
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