Elections

Climate Change

Trio of corporate interests spend big, urging Californians to just vote no

In California’s Democrat-dominated statehouse, big business usually plays defense. Liberal groups—like labor unions and environmentalists—typically push for new bills, while corporate interests work to kill them. Legislators feel that push and pull. A similar dynamic is now at play on California’s ballot, where major industries are spending big bucks to defeat policies backed by progressives. […]

By

Laurel Rosenhall

• October 12, 2016

Elections

Virtual landlord unlocks campaign websites—for a fee

Andrew Naylor was working at a digital advertising firm in Silicon Valley when the “a-ha” moment struck. It was 2008, and money—more than $83 million—was gushing into the advertising world as Californians prepared to vote on Prop. 8, the measure to limit marriage to heterosexual couples (later ruled unconstitutional.) “I saw what was happening with […]

By

Laurel Rosenhall

• October 5, 2016

Elections

How would the Prop. 56 tobacco tax really affect poor smokers?

This fall, California voters will decide whether to approve the biggest jump in cigarette taxes since the state began taxing tobacco in 1959. Prop. 56, backed by a wide coalition of public health, healthcare and union groups, would impose an additional $2 per-pack excise tax on cigarettes—raising the current state levy from 87-cents per pack […]

By

Matt Levin

• October 2, 2016

Elections

Proposition 60: Condoms in films

1oo percent of precincts reporting partial returns—will be updated when all results are certified. Background: This is the rare ballot measure that requires you to think about sex. Because here in California—home to a $9 billion pornography industry—that most personal of acts is also a jobs issue and a public health concern. Four years ago, […]

By

CalMatters Staff

• September 28, 2016

Elections

Proposition 61: Prescription drugs

Background: Many Americans are angry about rising pharmaceutical prices and politicians have taken notice. Presidential candidates this year debated how to contain costs, and California lawmakers proposed fixes that never passed out of the statehouse. Drug prices are a big deal not only for consumers who are forced to pay more for prescriptions, but also […]

By

CalMatters Staff

• September 28, 2016

Elections

Propositions 62 and 66: Death penalty

Prop. 62 Prop. 66 1oo percent of precincts reporting partial returns—will be updated when all results are certified. Background: Whether for or against the death penalty, both sides agree the criminal justice system isn’t working. Since the 1978 passage of the death penalty in California, 15 of the 930 individuals who received a death sentence […]

By

CalMatters Staff

• September 28, 2016

Elections

Proposition 63: Gun control

1oo percent of precincts reporting partial returns—will be updated when all results are certified. Background: Even though California has some of the toughest gun restrictions in the country, political will intensified this year to pass even stiffer laws. Motivated in part by the December shooting in San Bernardino that left 14 people dead, Democrats in […]

By

CalMatters Staff

• September 28, 2016

Elections

Proposition 64: Legalizing marijuana

1oo percent of precincts reporting partial returns—will be updated when all results are certified. Background: The push for marijuana legalization is on the ballot in at least nine states this November, with California’s Prop. 64 the most watched. Although four other states previously have legalized recreational pot, a vote by the nation’s most populous state […]

By

CalMatters Staff

• September 28, 2016

Elections

Propositions 65 and 67: Plastic bags

Prop. 65 Prop. 67 1oo percent of precincts reporting partial returns—will be updated when all results are certified. Background: How you carry your groceries home from the store may seem like a trivial subject, but it’s the focus of two rival measures on the California ballot that pit environmentalists against the plastic industry. More than […]

By

CalMatters Staff

• September 28, 2016

Elections

Proposition 51: School construction

1oo percent of precincts reporting partial returns—will be updated when all results are certified. Background: School districts pay for building new schools and updating older ones with a mix of local and state money, generally financed through bonds. It’s been a decade since California voters approved a bond measure allowing the state to borrow money […]

By

CalMatters Staff

• September 28, 2016