California No Taxes After Age 55 Initiative (2018)

California No Taxes After Age 55 Initiative
Election date November 6, 2018
Topic Taxes
Status Not on the ballot
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin Citizens
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The California No Taxes After Age 55 Initiative (#17-0029) did not qualify to appear on the ballot in California as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.

The measure would have added a provision to the state constitution prohibiting the state and local governments from levying an income tax, personal property tax, or real estate property tax on residents age 55 or older. The measure would have also prohibited an estates tax on the resident's estate after the resident's death.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The official ballot title was as follows:

“

Exempts California Residents 55 Years Old or Older from State or Local Income and Property Taxes and Property Fees. Exempts California Residents from Any State Estate Tax. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.

”

Petition summary

The summary provided for inclusion on signature petition sheets was as follows:

“

Exempts California residents who are 55 years old or older from paying state or local income taxes, real estate and personal property taxes, or real estate and personal property fees. Exempts California residents from any form of state estate tax, if California were to levy an estate tax.

”

Fiscal impact

Note: The fiscal impact statement for a California ballot initiative authorized for circulation is prepared by the state's legislative analyst and director of finance.

The fiscal impact statement was as follows:

“

Reduced state and local taxes of roughly $60 billion per year. The state and local governments would have to take actions to bring their budgets into balance—by reducing spending and/or raising other taxes or fees.

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article I, California Constitution

The measure would have added a Section 33 to Article I of the California Constitution. The full text of the constitutional amendment is available here.

Path to the ballot

See also: California signature requirements and Laws governing the initiative process in California

In California, the number of signatures needed to qualify a measure for the ballot is based on the total number of votes cast for the office of governor. For an initiated constitutional amendment, petitioners must collect signatures equal to 8 percent of the most recent gubernatorial vote. To get a measure on the 2018 ballot, the number of signatures required was 585,407. In California, initiatives can be circulated for 180 days. Signatures needed to be certified at least 131 days before the 2018 general election, which was around June 28, 2018. As the signature verification process can take several weeks, the California secretary of state issues suggested deadlines for several months before the certification deadline.

The timeline for the initiative is as follows:

• Lee Olsen submitted a letter requesting a title and summary on September 5, 2017.
• A title and summary were issued by the California attorney general's office on November 9, 2017.
• Proponents of the initiative needed to submit 365,880 valid signatures by May 8, 2018, in order for it to make the ballot.
• On May 22, 2018, the secretary of state announced that the initiative failed to make the ballot.

See also

• 2018 ballot measures
• California 2018 ballot propositions
• California ballot measures

External links

• Initiative Petition #17-0029