A voter signs a petition to place a measure on the statewide ballot. (Photo: Svineyard, via Shutterstock)It’s never easy to get initiatives qualified for the ballot, but this year of the COVID-19 pandemic is the worst ever. Organizations busily trying to get enough signatures to qualify their measure of choice had their efforts abruptly halted two weeks ago because of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s sweeping stay-at-home order.
A California ballot box. (Photo illustration, Hafakot, via Shutterstock)It’s like a poker game: If you want to play, you have to ante up. And this year, the ante for Nov. 8 was nearly $48 million. That’s how much the rival interests for an array of initiatives paid to get on the ballot. That’s not money spent on the merits of the initiatives. It’s the money spent simply to get the propositions before the public.
Plastic bags and other debris at a landfill await the bulldozer. (Photo: Huguette Roe)OPINION: You might already have noticed petition gatherers buzzing around Target and other stores, asking for your signature to undo the historic statewide plastic bag ban signed into law just weeks ago by California Gov. Jerry Brown. I urge you not to sign them. Out-of-state interlopers are pouring millions of dollars into the effort to undo what the Governor and Legislature have just accomplished to reduce the plastic bags littering our neighborhoods.