California Special Election Results

Prop 1A – Fail  34.1%/65.9%

Prop 1B – Fail 37.4%/62.6%

Prop 1C – Fail 35.4%/64.6%

Prop 1D – Fail 34.2%/65.8%

Prop 1E – Fail 33.6%/66.4%

Prop 1F – Pass 73.9%/26.1%

For detailed election results visit the California Secretary of State’s page at http://www.sos.ca.gov.

May 19 2009 CA Special Election

About This Special Election

Few Californians can forget the record-breaking budget stalemate of this past year. After the longest budget delay in state history, enough lawmakers finally agreed on a compromise proposal that would put a budget in place, enable the state to start writing checks, and start taking steps toward dealing a $40 billion hole in the budget.

Many of those compromise elements require voter approval before they can be officially put in place. For example, some involve taking money away from programs which voters, through the ballot initiative process, had mandated should receive a certain amount of money every year. Other compromises involve new taxes, constitutional changes to the budgeting process, or making fundamental changes to how the state lottery works. These all require voter approval.

As a result, the Legislature has drafted six ballot propositions which will go before California voters statewide on Tuesday, May 19, 2009. If all the initiatives pass, the budget agreement is official and the state goes about its businesses. If all or some of them fail, lawmakers must go back to the drawing board to find new ways to deal with these new impacts on the state’s budget.

Proposition 1A: Budget Stabilization/Rainy Day Fund/Two-year Extension of Tax Increases

Easy-to-use Citizen Voice Prop. 1A Ballot Measure Summary (.pdf)
Watch the Citizen Voice “Mini-debate” on Prop. 1A
Listen or Download the Audio Version of the Prop. 1A “Mini-debate”
Read the Transcript for the Audio of Prop. 1A “Mini-debate”

This measure would change how the state budget is developed every year.  In short, it places requirements on how much money the state must put into a “rainy day” fund in a given year, thereby limiting the amount the state can spend on ongoing programs in that same year.

Proposition 1A would also extend several tax increases approved as part of this past year’s budget compromise.  These taxes are currently set to expire after the 2010-2011 fiscal year.  If Proposition 1A passes, the one-percent increase in the sales tax would be extended for one more year; the increase in the car tax (from 0.65 percent to 1.15 percent of the car’s value) would extend for two more years, and the 0.25 percent increase in state income tax will also be extended for two more years.

Proposition 1B: Education Funding Repayment

Easy-to-use Citizen Voice Prop. 1B Ballot Measure Summary (.pdf)
Watch the Citizen Voice “Mini-debate” on Prop. 1B
Listen or Download the Audio Version of the Prop. 1B “Mini-debate”
Read the Transcript for the Audio of Prop. 1B “Mini-debate”

In 1988, voters passed Proposition 98, which set a minimum amount that the state is required to spend on K-12 and community college education in each year’s budget.  When the state can’t pay the minimum, whatever is left to be paid is considered debt that the state owes to schools and community colleges.  Under Proposition 1B, that total current debt would be set at $9.3 billion.

Under Proposition 1B, the state would be required to begin paying back this debt via regular payments, made in addition to the annual budget for education.  These would be paid for from a newly established fund made up of 1.5 percent of general tax revenues each year, starting in 2011.  Because creation of this new fund for repayment is included in Prop 1A, Prop 1B will not take effect unless Prop 1A also passes.

Proposition 1C: Borrowing From the State Lottery/Lottery Modernization

Easy-to-use Citizen Voice Prop. 1C Ballot Measure Summary (.pdf)
Watch the Citizen Voice “Mini-debate” on Prop. 1C
Listen or Download the Audio Version of the Prop. 1C “Mini-debate”
Read the Transcript for the Audio of Prop. 1C “Mini-debate”

Proposition 1C would make several fundamental changes in the state lottery approved by voters in 1984.  First, it would allow the state to sell bonds that would be repaid from future California Lottery profits, in effect borrowing from future profits. The state Legislative Analyst estimates that this would make about $5 billion available to address the state’s current budget deficit.  Annual costs to the state to repay the bonds are estimated at between $350 million and $450 million each year (for 20 to 30 years) which would be paid from lottery profits.

A related major change under Proposition 1C is that lottery money above costs and prizes would no longer be used for education programs.  School funding would instead be paid for from the state’s General Fund.  The Legislative Analyst indicates that the amount of lottery profits, after bond payments described above, would likely not be enough to cover the required education payments, meaning General Fund spending would need to be adjusted through other cuts or revenues to meet these obligations.

Proposition 1D: Redirection of Tobacco Tax Funds

Easy-to-use Citizen Voice Prop. 1D Ballot Measure Summary (.pdf)
Watch the Citizen Voice “Mini-debate” on Prop. 1D
Listen or Download the Audio Version of the Prop. 1D “Mini-debate”
Read the Transcript for the Audio of Prop. 1D “Mini-debate”

In 1998 California voters passed Proposition 10, which set a 50 cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes, with the added revenue specifically earmarked for funding health programs, school preparation programs, child development and other programs serving kids up to the age of five years (the “First 5″ programs).

Proposition 1E: Diversion of Mental Health Funds

Easy-to-use Citizen Voice Prop. 1E Ballot Measure Summary (.pdf)
Watch the Citizen Voice “Mini-debate” on Prop. 1E
Listen or Download the Audio Version of the Prop. 1E “Mini-debate”
Read the Transcript for the Audio of Prop. 1E “Mini-debate”

In 2004 voters approved the Mental Health Services Act, Prop 63, which increased income tax on people with taxable incomes in excess of $1 million to raise money exclusively for specified mental health programs.  Approximately $900 million to $1.5 B has been raised annually for these programs since the measure passed.

Under Proposition 1E, the state could divert nearly $460 million of this money – over the course of the next two years – into the state’s General Fund, where it could be used to pay for other mental health programs not covered under Proposition 63.