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California 2012 ballot propositions
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California's 2012 elections U.S. Senate • U.S. House • State Senate • State Assembly • State ballot measures • Candidate ballot access |
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Thirteen statewide ballot propositions were on the 2012 ballot in California.
Two were June 5 primary ballot, of which, one was approved and one was defeated. Eleven were on the November general election ballot, of which, five were approved and six were defeated.
Three competing tax measures were on the November ballot: Proposition 30, a sales and income tax increase measure supported by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown; Proposition 38, a state income tax increase for education funding measure sponsored by Molly Munger, and Proposition 39, an income tax increase for multistate businesses supported by Thomas Steyer.[1]
Steve Glazer, who supported Proposition 30, said, "When voters are offered choices among competing [tax] measures, it depresses the support for each of them. The likely result will be all of them failing."[2] Darrell Steinberg, the President Pro Tem of the California State Senate said, "The real problem is that if you have multiple measures on the ballot, you dramatically increase the likelihood that they will all fail. That’s not an acceptable outcome."[3] Molly Munger, sponsor of Proposition 38, said, "Under our proposal, virtually all the cuts that the schools have suffered in the last four years would all be restored—and under the governor's initiative, virtually none would be."[4]
The 2012 ballot was the first time in the hundred-year history of initiative & referendum California that no legislative referrals were on a general election year ballot in the state.[5]
On the ballot
- See also: 2012 ballot measures
June 5:
| Type | Title | Subject | Description | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CICA | Proposition 28 | Term limits | Removes the limit of two 4-year terms for state senators; removes the limit of three 2-year terms for state representatives; creates a lifetime term limit of twelve years in the state legislature |  |
| CISS | Proposition 29 | Taxes | Increases the tax on cigarettes to fund cancer research |  |
November 6:
| Type | Title | Subject | Description | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CICA | Proposition 30 | Taxes | Increases the state sales and income taxes for seven years | |
| CICA/SS | Proposition 31 | State budget | Establishes a two-year budget cycle; prohibits the state legislature from expending more than $25 million without creating budgetary offsets or other spending cuts; permits the governor to enact budget cuts during declared fiscal emergencies; requires performance reviews of state programs; and allows local governments to change procedures for locally administered programs that are state-funded | |
| CISS | Proposition 32 | Labor | Bans unions and corporations from contributing payroll-deducted funds to state and local candidates; bans government contractors from contributing to candidates that may award government contracts | |
| CISS | Proposition 33 | Insurance | Allows insurers to set prices based on whether the driver previously carried insurance coverage with any insurance company over the last five years | |
| CISS | Proposition 34 | Death penalty | Abolishes the death penalty and replaces it with a maximum life sentence without the opportunity for parole; applies the abolition and new sentencing retroactively; allocates $100 million to law enforcement for rape and homicide investigations | |
| CISS | Proposition 35 | Law enforcement | Increases maximum sentencing for human trafficking to 15 years to life and $1.5 million in fines; allocates collected fines to victims of human trafficking and law enforcement; requires persons convicted to be registered as a sex offender; requires human trafficking training for law enforcement | 
|
| CISS | Proposition 36 | Law enforcement | Changes the three-strikes sentencing system established by a 1994 ballot initiative, Proposition 184, to impose life sentences when new felony convictions are serious or violent; allows resentencing for convicts serving life sentences for felonies that were not serious or violent, except in the case of rape, murder, or child molestation | |
| CISS | Proposition 37 | Regulations | Requires labeling for foods that are genetically modified and prohibits labeling such foods as "natural" | |
| CISS | Proposition 38 | Taxes | Increases state income taxes (using a sliding scale) by .4% for lowest individual earners to 2.2% for individuals earning over $2.5 million to fund education and early childhood programs | |
| CISS | Proposition 39 | Taxes | Requires out-of-state businesses to calculate income taxes based on percentage of sales in California; repeals current law that allowed out-of-state businesses to choose tax liability formulas; dedicates half of the revenue ($500-$550 million) annually for five years from the expected increase in revenue under the initiative to fund fhe Clean Energy Job Creation Fund, which was designed under the initiative to "support projects intended to improve energy efficiency and expand the use of alternative energy" | |
| VR | Proposition 40 | Redistricting | Upholds or rejects the State Senate districts drawn by the Citizens Redistricting Commission, which were certified by the commission on August 15, 2011, and that took effect on June 5, 2012 | |
Election date changes
Three of 2012's questions were originally scheduled to appear on the February 7 presidential preference ballot. However, on July 29, 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that moved California's presidential primary from February 7 to June 5.[6] Then, on October 7, Brown signed Senate Bill 202, thereby moving all ballot proposition elections in 2012 onto the November 6, 2012 ballot, with the exception of two initiatives that had already been qualified for the June 5 election.
The Rainy Day Budget Stabilization Act was originally certified for the November 6, 2012, ballot. However, a line was included in Senate Bill 202, signed by Gov. Brown on October 7, 2011, that moved the Rainy Day Act from the November 6, 2012, ballot to the November 4, 2014 ballot.
The Water Bond Measure, up until June 5, 2012, was scheduled to be on the November 6 ballot; at that time, the state legislature acted to remove it from the 2012 ballot and place it on the state's 2014 ballot.
Getting measures on the ballot
Legislative referrals
The California State Legislature may refer constitutional amendments to the ballot with a two-thirds (66.67%) vote in each chamber.
The legislature can refer statutes and bond issues with a simple majority vote, but the governor's signature is also required.
In California, changes to voter-approved ballot initiatives need to be referred to voters for approval or rejection unless the changes further the initiative's purpose.
Initiatives
The number of valid signatures for citizen-initiated measures in California are based on the votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial election, which are held every four years. Initiated constitutional amendments require 8% of that total while initiated state statutes and veto referendums require 5%. The requirements for each type in 2012 were as follows:
- Initiated constitutional amendment (ICA): 807,615
- Initiated state statute (ISS): 504,760
- Veto referendum (VR): 504,760
Circulation procedures
The process of qualifying an initiative for the ballot in California begins when its proponents file the proposed language of the new law with the Attorney General of California. Once the Office of the Attorney General of California has prepared a ballot title and a summary of a proposed initiative, the initiative is considered to be cleared for circulation. Its supporters then have 150 days from the date that the title and summary were prepared to collect and submit to election officials the required signatures.
To qualify for the 2012 ballot, regardless of their initiative's 150-day deadline, proponents had to file their signatures by March 2, 2012 (if a full check of all signatures was required) or by the suggested deadline of April 20, 2012, if so many signatures were filed that the random sampling system came into play.
In 2012, five major proposed initiatives filed their signatures between May 1 and May 15, 2012, after the April 20 deadline provided by election officials and still qualified for the November ballot.[7][8][9][10] (Sponsors of a sixth initiative filed their signatures on May 18[11]; this measure did not qualify in time to make the 2012 ballot, but attempted to qualify for the state's 2014 ballot).
Cost of signatures
Not on the ballot
Initiatives
Note: Initiative sponsors sometimes file multiple versions of what is essentially the same ballot initiative with the Attorney General of California. Each version is given its own summary date and circulation dates.
Legislative referrals
This is a list of some proposals that members of the California State Legislature had introduced as potential statewide ballot propositions. However, none of these propositions ultimately qualified for the ballot.[5]
| Type | Title | Subject | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advisory | AB 78 | Immigration | Create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants |
| LRCA | SCA 5 | Elections | Reduce threshold required to pass parcel taxes from 2/3rds to 55% |
| LRCA | ACA 6 | I&R | Ballot initiatives to spend money must identify where money would come from |
| LRCA | SCA 7 | Admin of gov't | Public bodies required to post agendas and disclose any actions taken in meetings |
Local ballot measures
- See also: Local ballot measure elections in 2012
- February 7 • March 6 • March 13 • April 6 • April 10 • May 1 • May 8 • June 5 • July 10 • August 28 • September 18 • November 6
See also
- Ballot titles, summaries and fiscal statements for California 2012 ballot propositions
- 2012 ballot measures
- List of California ballot measures
- Laws governing ballot measures in California
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Business Week, "Brown Reaches Deal With Union on Tax-Increase Compromise," March 15, 2012
- ↑ San Francisco Examiner, "Tax tussles heading to ballot box," February 16, 2012
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "California Senate leader calls for paring tax proposals on ballot," February 16, 2012
- ↑ Wall Street Journal, "California Democrats Duel Over Taxes, Budget," April 1, 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Prop Zero, "Is November's a Historic Ballot?" July 9, 2012
- ↑ Prop Zero, "California Gives Up on Presidential Election Clout," July 29, 2011
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Jerry Brown says tax signatures in hand," May 3, 2012
- ↑ 89.3 KPCC, "Initiative to close tax exemption for out-of-state businesses to join November ballot," May 4, 2012
- ↑ FireDogLake Elections, "CA: Genetically Modified Food Labeling Initiative Likely to Make the Ballot," May 2, 2012
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Signatures for Molly Munger's tax plan submitted in Los Angeles," May 2, 2012
- ↑ Los Angeles Business Journal, "Signatures Submitted for Health Insurance Rate Initiative," May 18, 2012
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