California 2008 ballot measures

From Ballotpedia

1 National overview
2 November 4, 2008 ballot propositions
3 Role of billionaires
4 June 3, 2008 ballot propositions
5 February 5, 2008 ballot propositions
6 Filed initiatives that didn't make 2008 ballot
7 External links
8 References
9 Additional reading

Twelve ballot propositions appeared on the statewide November 4, 2008 ballot in California, in addition to 380 local ballot measures.^[1] Seven of the twelve were approved by voters.

The November general election is the third time Californians went to the polls in 2008 to vote on statewide ballot propositions. On February 5, in addition to voting on presidential contenders in the Republican and Democratic party primaries, voters considered four referenda about the tribal gaming compacts and three unsuccessful initatives, including another contender in the long-running term limits issue which began in 1990. On June 3, eminent domain was on the ballot, with Prop 98 losing in a landslide and Prop 99 coasting to a very comfortable victory.

Altogether, twenty-one propositions were voted on in 2008:

Fifteen were citizen-initiated measures. Six passed, nine failed.
Two were legislative referrals. Both passed.
Four were veto referenda. These passed.

National overview

2008 ballot measures

Ballot Initiative Report, 2008

State-by-state chart

2008 ballot measure lawsuits

November 4, 2008 ballot propositions

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Outcome	Signatures $	Fiscal impact^[2]	Videos
LRB	Prop 1A	Transportation	9.95 billion bond for high-speed rail	Approved	NA	$19.4 billion	-
CISS	Prop 2	Animal Rights	Regulations on animal confinement practices	Approved	$416,756	Unknown	Prop 2 videos
CISS	Prop 3	Health/Medical	$980 million in bonds for children’s hospitals.	Approved	$1,028,000	$2 billion	-
CICA	Prop 4	Abortion	Waiting period and parental notification before minors obtain abortions	Defeated	$2,555,000	Unknown	-
CISS	Prop 5	Law enforcement	Treatment for youth; rehab and shorter parole for nonviolent adult drug offenders	Defeated	$1,762,000	-	-
CISS	Prop 6	Law enforcement	Increase crime prevention programs, harsher penalties on crime	Defeated	$1,022,000	About $1 billion	-
CISS	Prop 7	Environment	Promotes use of alternative fuels	Defeated	$1,367,000	$3.4 million	Prop 7 videos
CICA	Prop 8	Marriage	Eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry	Approved	$882,900	$10+ million range/lost revenue	Prop 8 videos
CICA	Prop 9	Law enforcement	Laws governing treatment crime victims and parole procedures	Approved	$2,258,000	$100+ million range	-
CISS	Prop 10	Environment	Promotes use of alternative fuels	Defeated	$3,078,263	$10 billion	-
CICA	Prop 11	Election reform	Independent commission to draw legislative district boundaries	Approved	$2,332,988	No significant impact	Prop 11 videos
LRB	Prop 12	Bond issue	$900 million in bonds for home, farm purchasing assistance for vets	Approved	NA	$1.8 billion	-

Role of billionaires

Five men who are on the list of Forbes 400 richest Americans were the primary sponsors of five of the twelve propositions on the November ballot:

George Soros, primary sponsor of Proposition 5
Henry Nicholas, primary sponsor of Proposition 6 and Proposition 9
Peter Sperling, primary sponsor of Proposition 7
Boone Pickens, primary sponsor of Proposition 10.^[3]

Only one of the five ballot propositions that was primarily sponsored by a billionaire passed--Proposition 9.

June 3, 2008 ballot propositions

See June 3, 2008 ballot measures in California for local ballot measures (cities, counties, school districts).
Ballotpedia's complete list of June 3 election results.

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Status
CISS	Prop 98	Eminent domain	Bar state from condemning or damaging private property for private uses	Defeated
CISS	Prop 99	Eminent domain	Bar gov't from using eminent domain to acquire an owner-occupied residence to convey to private person or business	Approved
Recall	Denham recall	Recall	Applicable only in California's 12th state senate district	Denham is victor

February 5, 2008 ballot propositions

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Status	Yes Votes	No Votes
CICA	Prop 91	Spending	Transportation funding	Defeated	41.9%	58.1%
CIC&S	Prop 92	Education	Community College funding	Defeated	42.7%	57.3%
CICA	Prop 93	Term Limits	Soften term limits	Defeated	46.4%	53.6%
VR	Prop 94	Gaming	Adds new slot machines, gives higher % of gambling revenues to state governemt	Approved	55.8%	44.2%
VR	Prop 95	Gaming	Adds new slot machines, gives higher % of gambling revenues to state governemt	Approved	55.8%	44.2%
VR	Prop 96	Gaming	Adds new slot machines, gives higher % of gambling revenues to state governemt	Approved	55.8%	44.2%
VR	Prop 97	Gaming	Adds new slot machines, gives higher % of gambling revenues to state governemt	Approved	55.8%	44.2%

See: California 2008 presidential primary election results

Filed initiatives that didn't make 2008 ballot

Title	Subject	Description	Status
Drinking Water Bond Act	Bonds	$6,835,000,000 ($6.835 billion) in bonds for water projects	5/12/08
College Affordability Act	Education	Freeze mandatory fees paid by undergraduates for attending state universities for 5 years	6/09/08
Quality Teacher Recruitment & Retention Act	Education	Prohibit school districts from paying any employee a salary higher than that paid to the highest-paid classroom teacher.	6/16/08
Protect Marriage	Marriage	Defines marriage as between one man and one woman	5/27/08
Eminent Domain Protection	Eminent domain	Restricts the use of eminent domain	In circulation
Water Storage & Reliability	Bond issue	$11,690,000,000 ($11.69 billion) bond issue for water projects	approved for circulation
Human Embryo Research	Stem cells	Bans "destructive human embryo research"	approved for circulation
Human Cloning Ban	Stem cells	Bans human cloning	Approved for circulation
Abortion restrictions	Abortion	Ban on abortions at viability	Approved for circulation
Fair Districts Act	Election reform	State legislative district boundary-drawing reforms	failed
Healthcare for Veterans	Health care	Should U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs fully fund health care for vets?	failed
Health Security	Health care	Establishes a California Health Security Plan	failed
Voter Restoration Act	Election reform	State legislative district boundary-drawing reforms	failed
Prisoner Rehabilitation	Law enforcement	Allows inmates more access to educational, treatment and visitation programs	failed
Dietary Supplement Expense	Health/Medical	Medical expense deduction on state income tax for dietary supplements and special foods.	failed
Repeals marijuana penalties	Marijuana	Decriminalizes marijuana	failed
Tangible Ballots	Election Reform	Votes on a direct-recording electronic device must result in a tangible ballot	failed
Prohibits sterilization	Animal rights	Forbids sterilization of animals or humans	failed
Domestic Partnerships	Marriage	Only marriage between one man and one woman is recognized	failed
Property Ownership	Property rights	Forbids local governments from denying land ownership	failed
Animals are Property	Animal rights	Defines animals as property	failed
Prohibition of Identification Devices	Animal rights	Prohibits placing identification devices under animal or human skin	failed
Animal license fees	Animal rights	Forbids local governments from charging more than $50 for an animal license	failed
Stray and relinguished animals	Animal rights	Establishes statewide standards for animal euthansia at shelters	failed
Right to Health	Health care	Declares that health is a fundamental constitutional right	failed
Health insurance	Health care	Health insurance for children	withdrawn
Taxpayer Protection Act	Campaign Finance	Would prohibit taxpayer-funded lobbying	withdrawn
Political Party Nomination	Campaigns & Elections	Select presidential electors by proportional plurality vote if other states do, too	failed
Corporate Crimes	Business regulation	Require business execs to report corporate crimes in writing	failed
Electoral College Reform	Election Reform	Requires political parties to nominate a presidential elector from each congressional district and two additional statewide electors	failed
National Popular Vote Act	Election reform	Presidential election would be based on popular vote	failed
Healthy Californians Act	Health care	Would add "and affordable health care" to the bill of rights	failed
Class Action Reform Act	Judicial reform	Reform class action regulations	failed
Non-Profit Plaintiffs Act	Judicial reform	Allow certain non-profits to be plaintiffs in class-action lawsuits	failed
Shareholder Approval of Compensation	Business regulation	If a public company does business in California, its shareholders must approve the compensation plans for the top 10 highest paid executives	failed
Corporate Accountability Act	Business regulation	Compensate the public for the harm inflicted by corporate fraud	failed
Prison Population Reduction Act	Prison	Reduce prison population through work time credit and resentencing	failed
Prisoner Rights Act	Prison	Rehabilitation education for prisoners	failed
Nuclear Energy Regulations	Nuclear Energy/Waste	Repeals existing restrictions on state approval of construction of nuclear power plants	Withdrawn 11-19-07
Redistricting Proposal	Redistricting	Establishes Citizens Redistricting Commission	Failed
Wealth Tax	Taxes	Imposes 45% tax on value of property exceeding $40 million	Denied
Child Abuse Reporting	Welfare	To requiring training on recognizing child abuse and neglect to all those that are required to report it by law	Failed
Redistricting Proposal	Redistricting	Establishes Citizens Redistricting Commission	Failed
Worker's Compensation	Health Care / Medical	Allows employees to choose medical treatment centers without company approval when injured "because of" work	Failed
Legislature Reimbursement	Government Administration	Restricts reimbursements to travel expenses. Would reduces expenses by $4.5 million annually	Failed
Lobbying Gifts	Campaign Finance Reform	Bans legislatures from accepting gift from lobbyists or trade associations	Failed
Class Action Lawsuit Fairness Act	Judicial Reform	-	Withdrawn
Corporate Crime Reporting Act	Business Regulations	-	Withdrawn
Treatment of Farm Animals	Animal Rights	Requires that an enclosure or tether confining specified farm animals allow the animals for the majority of every day to fully extend their limbs or wings, lie down, stand up, and turn around.	Withdrawn
Internet Poker Statute	Gaming	Creates a state owned poker site	Failed
Limit on Marriage	Civil Rights	Defines marriage as between one man and one woman	Failed
Public Pension and Health Benefits Reduction	Health/Medical	Reduces pension and retirement health care benefits for all public employees hired after July 9th, 2009	Failed
Personal Income Tax Abolishment	Taxes	Abolishes state personal income tax. Increases state sales and use tax by 5.5 percent.	Failed
Universal Health Care Reform	Health/Medical	Would pass the Governor's plans for universal health care	Withdrawn
Candidate Vote Requirement	Election Reform	Mandates a runoff election when no candidate in a state or federal election receives more than 50 percent of the total votes cast for that office.	Failed
Uninsured motorist	Law enforcement	Police officers who issue a citation for failure to provide proof of insurance must also remove the vehicle’s license plates (some exceptions)	Abandoned