California voters will have to decide on several initiative in the upcoming elections.  While a complete list of statewide ballot initiatives is a work in progress, the short list is already growing.  Senate Constitutional Amendment (SCA) 17 is the only qualified measure for the June primary ballot.  However, the November ballot is growing with seven qualified measures so far and another 65 measures that have been cleared for circulation:

June 7, 2016 Statewide Ballot Measures

Legislatively Referred Constitutional Amendment

Proposition 50 – Senate Constitutional Amendment (SCA) 17.  This is a legislatively referred Constitutional Amendment, SCA 17 enacted in 2014, which would ensure that each house of the Legislature has the power to suspend a Senator or an Assembly Member without pay and benefits, if the circumstances warrant such action.

November 8, 2016 Statewide Ballot Measures

Initiatives

California Drug Price Relief Act Initiative.  The measure would prohibit the State of California from paying more for a prescription drug than the lowest price paid for the same drug by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Condoms in Pornographic Films Initiative.  The measure would require the use of condoms in all pornographic films produced in California featuring sexual intercourse.

California Public Vote on Bonds Initiative.  The measure would require the State of California to seek voter approval before funding projects that cost more than $2 billion with revenue bonds—borrowing that is repaid with receipts from the projects they pay for, rather than with general taxpayer funds. 

Public Education Facilities Bond Initiative.  The measure would authorize the issuance and sale of $9 billion in bonds for construction and modernization of public school facilities—K-12 and community colleges. 

California Medi-Cal Hospital Reimbursement Initiative and Constitutional Amendment.  The measure would amend the California Constitution to require voter approval of changes to the hospital fee system to ensure Medi-Cal funds are used for the intended purpose of supporting hospital care to Medi-Cal patients and to help pay for healthcare for low-income children.    

Referendum 

Referendum to Overturn Ban on Single-Use Plastic Bags.  The referendum would overturn current law, Senate Bill (SB) 270 enacted in 2014, which prohibits grocery and certain other retail stores from providing single-use bags but permits sale of recycled paper bags and reusable bags. 

Legislatively Referred State Statute 

California Multilingual Education Act of 2016.  This is a legislatively referred state statute, SB 1174 enacted in 2014, which would repeal parts of Proposition 227 allowing for bilingual education in public schools.  Passed in 1998, Proposition 227 implemented an English-only requirement for English-Learners.

Initiatives already cleared for circulation include a cigarette tax to fund healthcare, research and law enforcement; a measure to make Proposition 30—the temporary sales tax increase approved by the voters in 2012—permanent; a measure to drop the expanded penalty for convictions that predated the 1994 Three-Strikes Law, and several initiatives related to the legalization of recreational marijuana. Some political strategies have identified at least 15 or as many as 19 measures that may make it to the November 8^th ballot.  The last time California’s ballot was that long was in November 2004, when there were 16 propositions. The March 2000 ballot had 20.

As always, if you have questions on legislation or regulatory issues, please contact Steve Churchwell at (916) 468-0945 steve@whitebrennerllp.com or Celia Mata at (916) 468-0623 celia@whitebrennerllp.com.