In the upcoming midterm election, many local and national government positions are up for grabs. Propositions will be on the ballot, and many of them could bring major changes to your daily life.
Here are the props on the ballot and what voting yes or no means for California residents:
Prop 1: Would allow the state to sell $11.25 billion in bonds to fund various affordable housing programs. Of that total amount, $1.25 billion would go toward veteran housing, while the rest would fund rental homes, homeownership programs, farmworker housing, affordable student housing, tribal housing, and more.
Vote Yes: It will provide housing for over 180,000 homeless people.
Vote No: Housing for people experiencing homelessness will be limited, and encampments will continue.
Prop 2: This constitutional amendment would allow the state to deposit up to 20 percent of its general fund tax revenue in the state’s reserves, up from the current ceiling of 10 percent.
Vote Yes: Helps the state build reserves that won’t rely on the stock market and better prepare for any economic downturn. It also authorizes spending some tax revenue to pay down California’s $20 billion federal unemployment insurance debt.
Vote No: Opponents say this would help lawmakers withhold more tax revenue without triggering the spending limit to avoid refunds to taxpayers.
Prop 3: Make income taxes on higher earners permanent to fund education and healthcare. Under the measure, income taxes for top earners range from 10.3 percent (for individual income over $360,000) to 12.3 percent (for individual income over $721,000), with graduated rates in between.
Vote Yes: K-12 public schools receive 89 percent of the money, while community colleges receive 11 percent of funding.
Vote No: Income tax may increase. Schools lose funding, and staff layoffs begin. Shutdown of school programs may occur.
Prop 4: Allow public financing of political campaigns. This would authorize California’s state and local governments to establish public campaign funds for candidates if they choose.
Vote Yes: Advocates say public campaign financing helps curb the influence of private money in politics.
Vote No: Opponents say the measure would force taxpayers to subsidize political candidates they may not want to support and could direct funding to fraudulent candidates.
Prop 5: Delay replacing recalled state officials. Under current law, if the governor is recalled, the lieutenant governor takes over their duties until a new governor is elected. The recalled official would be allowed to run in the next election.
Vote Yes: This constitutional amendment, placed on the ballot by state lawmakers, would delay the election of a successor until a separate election.
Vote No: Opponents say that passing this prop can dilute the power of voters while protecting incumbents.
Prop 37: Create low-cost mortgages for homebuyers. These loans provide up to 17 percent of a home’s purchase price, leaving buyers with a cash down payment of 3 percent if paired with a typical mortgage.
Vote Yes: House hunters can expect to face a down payment equal to 20 percent of the home.
Vote No: Opponents argue that the state government should not be involved in the mortgage lending market and won’t address the underlying reasons for the housing crisis.
Prop 38: Borrow $8.4 billion for immunology research. This would create an $8.4 billion bond largely to fund research into fighting cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s, plus other diseases that can be treated through immunotherapies.
Vote Yes: To support finding a cure for the diseases mentioned in the Prop.
Vote No: Critics fault the measure for focusing on just one subset of biomedical research rather than a wider array of health research.
Prop 39: Require identification for voting. This initiative would require voters to show government-issued identification at the polls and to election officials.
Vote Yes: Supporters argue that ID requirements at voting sites will strengthen voters’ trust in California’s election process.
Vote No: Opponents say requiring ID will make it harder for eligible voters who don’t have a driver’s license or other supporting documents to vote.
Prop 40: Apply a one-time tax to billionaires to fund healthcare and education. California residents with a net worth of $1 billion or more would be charged a one-time 5 percent tax at the beginning of the year.
Vote Yes: Money would be earmarked primarily for healthcare, with some reserved for food assistance and education.
Vote No: Cuts to healthcare and other programs will continue
Prop 41: Require audits of new tax programs. This would make it harder to pass new special taxes by requiring the state auditor to review any special tax proposal before it goes to voters.
Vote Yes: Key social programs receive more funding.
Vote No: Billionaires avoid paying taxes on their huge wealth.
Prop 42: Banning new taxes on personal property. This would make it much harder to create a wealth tax in California by prohibiting new taxes on the mere ownership of assets such as investment accounts, business interests, and personal property — assets that are typically only taxed when they are sold or generate income.
Vote Yes: Ultra-wealthy backers say California should not tax people for merely owning or controlling retirement accounts, financial portfolios, or valuable personal possessions like art.
Vote No: Wealth tax on the rich.
Prop 43: Raise vote threshold for special tax measures. This proposal makes it harder to impose or increase local taxes by raising the threshold for local citizen-driven special tax ballot initiatives to pass from a simple majority to two-thirds.
Vote Yes: To stop the increase in local taxes.
Vote No: Limits the ability to raise needed revenue for local services and makes it easier to block tax initiatives that the majority of voters support.
Prop 44: Requires more clinic spending on patient care. This would require community clinics that serve low-income patients to spend 90 percent of their annual revenue on patient care.
Vote Yes: Clinics spend more on direct patient care and less on executive pay and overhead.
Vote No: Would cost clinics more than $1.7 billion in noncompliance fees in the first year, ultimately forcing clinics to significantly reduce services or close.
Prop 45: Speed up environmental reviews for housing and infrastructure. This would limit reviews under the state’s landmark environmental law, the California Environmental Quality Act.
Vote Yes: Environmental review law is outdated and creates expensive bureaucracy and frivolous litigation that slows development. It argues that delays in reviewing projects ultimately increase costs that are passed down to taxpayers and consumers.
Vote No: The measure would weaken California’s environmental review law, which protects people and the environment from potentially harmful developments.
Please visit www.vote.ca.gov to register and learn more about the propositions on the upcoming general election ballot and see Our Weekly’s endorsements.
