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AP17:089

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 26, 2017
Contact:
SOS Press Office
(916) 653-6575

Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation

SETS MINIMUM COMPENSATION FOR SOME PUBLIC-SCHOOL TEACHERS EQUAL TO THAT OF STATE LEGISLATORS. SALES TAX INCREASE. INITIATIVE STATUTE.

SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the proponent of a new initiative was cleared to begin collecting petition signatures today.

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

SETS MINIMUM COMPENSATION FOR SOME PUBLIC-SCHOOL TEACHERS EQUAL TO THAT OF STATE LEGISLATORS. SALES TAX INCREASE. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Requires that full-time, public-school teachers with a credential that would allow them to teach beyond five years (also known as a “clear credential”) be paid no less than regular members of the state Legislature. Funds the minimum compensation with an additional two percent sales tax over the current rate. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Increased state sales tax revenues of approximately $14 billion annually, with proceeds spent on higher teacher salaries. Additional costs to schools of about $3 billion per year to cover higher teacher pensions and certain other benefits costs resulting from—but not funded by—the measure. Schools and the state could take a variety of actions to bring required spending in line with available resources. Increased state costs of about $1 billion per year to cover higher teacher pensions. Potential state actions—such as lowering spending on other programs—to keep state spending from exceeding the state’s constitutional limit. (17-0021.)

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1817, and the Attorney General’s tracking number is 17-0021.

The proponent of the measure, Marc Litchman, must collect the signatures of 365,880 registered voters (five percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2014 general election) in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than April 24, 2018. The proponent can be reached at (213) 973-2877 and info@fairpay2018.com.

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