California Herbicides and Pesticides Reduction Initiative (2020)
| California Herbicides and Pesticides Reduction Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Food and agriculture | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The California Herbicides and Pesticides Reduction Initiative (#19-0020) was not on the ballot in California as an initiated state statute on November 3, 2020.
The ballot measure would have directed the state government to enact protocols to reduce the application of herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and fumigants that do not conform with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Organic Program by 3 percent each year.[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The official ballot title was as follows:[2]
| “ |
Requires Enactment of Measures to Reduce the Use of Non-organic Fungicides, Herbicides, Insecticides, and Fumigants. Initiative Statute.[3] |
” |
Petition summary
The summary provided for inclusion on signature petition sheets was as follows:[2]
| “ |
Requires Governor and Legislature to enact measures to: (1) reduce by 3% annually the use of fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and fumigants that do not conform with federal organic standards (with reduction applicable to agricultural, forestry, residential, and governmental uses); and (2) levy 0.1% assessment on non-conforming products to fund research into reducing their use. Requires research funds be distributed equally between governmental and non-governmental entities, with no more than 0.1% of total allocated to a single project. Requires annual publication of progress reports.[3] |
” |
Fiscal impact
The fiscal impact statement was as follows:[2]
| “ |
It is the opinion of the Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance that the measure would result in a substantial net change in state and local finances.[3] |
” |
Full text
The full text of the ballot measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
Process in California
In California, the number of signatures required for an initiated state statute is equal to 5 percent of the votes cast in the preceding gubernatorial election. Petitions are allowed to circulate for 180 days from the date the attorney general prepares the petition language. Signatures need to be certified at least 131 days before the general election. As the verification process can take multiple months, the secretary of state provides suggested deadlines for ballot initiatives.
The requirements to get initiated state statutes certified for the 2020 ballot:
- Signatures: 623,212 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline for signature verification was June 25, 2020. However, the process of verifying signatures can take multiple months. The recommended deadlines were March 3, 2020, for an initiative requiring a full check of signatures and April 21, 2020, for an initiative requiring a random sample of signatures.
Signatures are first filed with local election officials, who determine the total number of signatures submitted. If the total number is equal to at least 100 percent of the required signatures, then local election officials perform a random check of signatures submitted in their counties. If the random sample estimates that more than 110 percent of the required number of signatures are valid, the initiative is eligible for the ballot. If the random sample estimates that between 95 and 110 percent of the required number of signatures are valid, a full check of signatures is done to determine the total number of valid signatures. If less than 95 percent are estimated to be valid, the initiative does not make the ballot.
Stages of this initiative
On October 7, 2019, Robert H. Cannard filed the ballot initiative.[1] On December 11, 2019, Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) released ballot language for the initiative, allowing proponents to begin collecting signatures. The deadline to file signatures for the initiative was June 8, 2020. Signatures were not filed for the ballot initiative.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 California Attorney General, "Initiative 19-0020," October 7, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 California Secretary of State, "Initiatives and Referenda Cleared for Circulation," accessed December 2, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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