Secretary of State Shirley Weber Assigns Numbers to November Ballot Measures, Invites Ballot Arguments

SACRAMENTO, CA Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., assigned proposition numbers today to the legislative, initiative, and referendum measures set to appear on the November 8, 2022, General Election ballot. Secretary Weber also invited interested Californians to submit arguments to be considered for inclusion in the Official Voter Information Guide. The guide is mailed to every voting household in California and posted on the Secretary of State’s website.

The propositions are listed below, along with the Legislative Counsel’s digest or the Attorney General’s official circulating title and summary.

Proposition 1

SCA 10 (Resolution Chapter 97, Statutes of 2022) Atkins. Reproductive freedom. (PDF)

The California Constitution declares that defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy are inalienable rights, and that a person may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law or equal protection of the laws. Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, declares that every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to personal reproductive decisions and prohibits the state from denying or interfering with a person’s right to choose or obtain an abortion before viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the person.

This measure would amend the California Constitution to prohibit the state from denying or interfering with an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.

Proposition 26

AUTHORIZES NEW TYPES OF GAMBLING. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY AMENDMENT. Allows federally recognized Native American tribes to operate roulette, dice games, and sports wagering on tribal lands, subject to compacts negotiated by the Governor and ratified by the Legislature. Beginning in 2022, allows on-site sports wagering at only privately operated horse-racing tracks in four specified counties for persons 21 years or older. Imposes 10% tax on sports-wagering profits at horse-racing tracks; directs portion of revenues to enforcement and problem-gambling programs. Prohibits marketing of sports wagering to persons under 21. Authorizes private lawsuits to enforce other gambling laws. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Increased state revenues, potentially reaching the tens of millions of dollars annually, from payments made by facilities offering sports wagering and new civil penalties authorized by this measure. Some portion of these revenues would reflect a shift from other existing state and local revenues. Increased state regulatory costs, potentially reaching the low tens of millions of dollars annually. Some or all of these costs would be offset by the increased revenue or reimbursements to the state. Increased state enforcement costs, not likely to exceed several million dollars annually, related to a new civil enforcement tool for enforcing certain gaming law (19-0029A1.)

Proposition 27

ALLOWS ONLINE AND MOBILE SPORTS WAGERING. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AND STATUTE. Legalizes online and mobile sports wagering, which currently is prohibited, for persons 21 years and older. Such wagering may be offered only by federally recognized Indian tribes and eligible businesses that contract with them. Individuals placing bets must be in California and not located on Indian lands. Imposes 10% tax on sports-wagering revenues and licensing fees. Directs tax and licensing revenues first to regulatory costs, then remainder to: 85% to homelessness programs; 15% to nonparticipating tribes. Specifies licensing, regulatory, consumer-protection, and betting-integrity standards for sports wagering. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Increased state revenues, potentially reaching the mid-hundreds of millions of dollars annually, from online sports wagering-related taxes, licensing fees, and penalties. Some portion of these revenues would reflect a shift from other existing state and local revenues. Increased state regulatory costs, potentially reaching the mid-tens of millions of dollars annually, that would be fully or partially offset by the increased revenues. (21-0017A1.)

Proposition 28

PROVIDES ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR ARTS AND MUSIC EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Provides additional funding for arts and music education in all K-12 public schools (including charter schools) by annually allocating from state General Fund an amount equaling 1% of required state and local funding for public schools. Allocates greater proportion of the funds to schools serving more economically disadvantaged students. Schools with 500 or more students must spend at least 80% of funding to employ teachers and remainder on training, supplies, and education partnerships. Requires audits and limits administrative costs to 1% of funding. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Increased spending likely in the range of $800 million to $1 billion annually, beginning in 2023-24, for arts education in schools. (21-0036A1.)

Proposition 29

REQUIRES ON-SITE LICENSED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL AT KIDNEY DIALYSIS CLINICS AND ESTABLISHES OTHER STATE REQUIREMENTS. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Requires physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant, with six months’ relevant experience, on site during treatment at outpatient kidney dialysis clinics; authorizes exemption for staffing shortage if qualified medical professional is available through telehealth. Requires clinics to disclose to patients all physicians with clinic ownership interests of five percent or more. Requires clinics to report dialysis-related infection data to state. Prohibits clinics from closing or substantially reducing services without state approval. Prohibits clinics from refusing to treat patients based on source of payment. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Increased state and local government costs likely in the low tens of millions of dollars annually. (21-0013.)

Proposition 30

PROVIDES FUNDING FOR PROGRAMS TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS BY INCREASING TAX ON PERSONAL INCOME OVER $2 MILLION. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Increases tax on personal income over $2 million by 1.75% for individuals and married couples and allocates new tax revenues as follows: (1) 45% for rebates and other incentives for zero-emission vehicle purchases and 35% for charging stations for zero-emission vehicles, with at least half of this funding directed to low-income households and communities; and (2) 20% for wildfire prevention and suppression programs, with priority given to hiring and training firefighters. Requires audits of programs and expenditures. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Increased annual state tax revenue ranging from $3 billion to $4.5 billion, with the additional revenue used to support zero-emission vehicle programs and wildfire-related activities. Potential increased state administrative costs paid from other funding sources that could reach tens of millions to the low hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Net decrease in state and local transportation revenue of up to several tens of millions of dollars annually in the initial years, and growing to up to a few hundreds of millions of dollars annually after several years. (21-0037A1.)

Proposition 31

REFERENDUM CHALLENGING A 2020 LAW PROHIBITING RETAIL SALE OF CERTAIN FLAVORED TOBACCO PRODUCTS. Proponent(s): Aaron Agenbroad, This referendum challenges a 2020 law that prohibits the retail sale of certain flavored tobacco products and tobacco flavor enhancers. The referendum would require a majority of voters to approve the 2020 state law before it can take effect. (20-0003.)

Ballot Arguments

Arguments may be submitted for or against the measures. Arguments selected for the Official Voter Information Guide will be on public display between July 26 and August 15. If multiple arguments are submitted for a proposition, state law gives first priority to arguments written by legislators in the case of legislative measures and to proponents of an initiative or referendum; subsequent priority goes to bona fide citizen associations and then to individuals. No more than three signers are allowed to appear on an argument or rebuttal to an argument.

Ballot arguments cannot exceed 500 words and rebuttals to ballot arguments cannot exceed 250 words. All submissions should be typed and double-spaced. Arguments may be hand-delivered to the Secretary of State’s Elections Division at 1500 11^th Street, 5^th Floor, Sacramento, California 95814; faxed to (916) 653-3214; or emailed to VIGarguments@sos.ca.gov. If faxed or emailed, the original documents must be received within 72 hours. The deadline to submit ballot arguments is July 12 by 5:00 p.m. The deadline to submit rebuttals to the ballot arguments is July 21 by 5:00 p.m.

Candidate Statements

Secretary Weber also invited candidate statements for inclusion in the Official Voter Information Guide. Candidates for United States Senate, statewide constitutional office, and Board of Equalization may buy space for a 250-word candidate statement in the voter guide. Candidates for state legislative office or the United States House of Representatives may purchase space for a candidate statement in a county sample ballot.

Candidates for state office must accept voluntary campaign expenditure limits in order to purchase space for a candidate statement.

The deadline to submit candidate statements to the Secretary of State’s office is July 20 by 5:00 p.m. Candidates for the United States House of Representatives, California State Senate, and California State Assembly have until August 12 to submit candidate statements to their county elections official for the local sample ballot in the county or counties in which the district lies.

For more information on ballot measures, candidate statement filing requirements, and election deadlines, please visit: https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/upcoming-elections/general-election-nov-8-2022

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