We present a Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast, recorded live, Thursday May 26 at CALIFORNIA VOTES, A 2022 Election Preview. This episode explores the Referendum of SB 793, which banned the sale of most flavored tobacco products in California.
An illustration of a California voter casting a ballot. (Photo: Niyazz, via Shutterstock)Berkeley IGS Poll: The election will be decided not by the overall electorate, but by only those who choose to take part in the recall. And, when the voting preferences of those considered most likely to participate are examined, the outcome becomes much closer, with 47% favoring Newsom’s recall and 50% favoring his retention.
A food delivery worker arrives at a customer's house. (Photo: Simone Hogan, via Shutterstock)As the new year gets under way, the most significant changes in years to the state’s labor law are in effect. The landmark ballot initiative, Proposition 22, favored by six out of 10 voters in November, defines the future of “gig work” in California. It took effect just weeks ago.
A voter prepares to make a choice on the ballot. (Photo: Svanblar, via Shutterstock)California voters are being asked to approve $16.4 billion in bond financing, cut taxes and weigh in on such diverse topics as kidney dialysis prices and farm animal living conditions in the Nov. 6 election. The 11 initiatives on the ballots include requests for bond financing for housing, water and children’s hospitals. Other initiatives would approve huge property tax savings for seniors, repeal the controversial gas tax hike and open the way to expand rent control. In the long tradition of California ballot propositions, fights over the initiatives have prompted record spending.
A California ballot box. (Photo illustration, Hafakot, via Shutterstock)The Public Policy Institute of California released a survey Wednesday night that, in addition to its examination of the U.S. Senate and presidential races, reported on the level of support for key ballot measures. The propositions require simple majorities to pass.
Participants in a panel discussion of Proposition 62 and 66. Attorney Nancy Haydt, right; Michele Hanisee of the L.A. County Deputy District Attorneys Association, center; and Anne Marie Schubert, Sacramento County district attorney. (Photo: Scott Duncan/Capitol Weekly)It was a wonkish wonderland. Capital Public Radio and Capitol Weekly combined forces Thursday to stage the first “California Votes” series of panel discussions on six of the most controversial ballot measures voters will face on November 8.
AN electric car takes juice at the L.A. Auto Show. (Photo: Juan Camilo Barnal)A hasty attempt to boost electric vehicle sales in California – an idea the governor likes – died in the final days of the legislative session amid intense lobbying and fast-approaching deadlines.
California presented in the colors of the state's official flag. (Photo: Savelyev, Shutterstock)It was, as always, a mixture of hope and disappointment, deals made and unmade, the bizarre and the mundane. For the Capitol community, 2015 was also a year of anticipation. Initiative creators were busy in 2015. The latest available figures tell us that 63 initiatives and referenda have been cleared for circulation by the Secretary of State’s office. Not all of them will make it to the Nov. 8 ballot, but four have already, including a proposal to overturn the state’s ban on plastic bags.
Changing Proposition 13, the landmark, tax-cutting ballot initiative that California voters approved in 1978, is the goal of a constitutional amendment aimed at next year’s ballot. The plan by two Senate Democrats – Holly Mitchell of Los Angeles and Loni Hancock of Berkeley – would allow commercial and business properties to be regularly reassessed for tax purposes, with an exemption for properties worth less than $500,000. Under current law – Proposition 13 – those properties are only reassessed when there is a change in ownership.
ANALYSIS: The Supreme Court is set to announce a decision in an Arizona redistricting case that could upend the California Redistricting Commission’s congressional lines and return to the legislature the responsibility for conducting each decennial redraw. Some prominent leaders in redistricting reform are preparing for this eventuality and urging the Legislature to stand down, allowing the current lines to be carried forward until 2022 and giving reformers a chance to develop a new method for independent redistricting of Congressional lines that wouldn’t conflict with the court’s decision in this case. This, however, may not be possible or even necessary.