California Proposition 163, Prohibit Sales Tax on Food Initiative (1992)

California Proposition 163
Election date November 3, 1992
Topic Food and beverage taxes and Food policy
Status Approved
Type Combined initiated constitutional amendment and state statute

California Proposition 163 was on the ballot as a combined initiated constitutional amendment and state statute in California on November 3, 1992. It was approved.

A “yes” vote supported this ballot initiative to: amend the state constitution to prohibit state and local governments from imposing sales or use taxes on food products, including those that were exempt under state law and enact a statute classifying candy, snack foods, and bottled water as food products to exempt them from sales tax.

A “no” vote opposed this ballot initiative, thereby: keeping the state constitution unchanged and allowing the legislature to modify which food products are subject to sales or use taxes and maintaining the existing law that did not exempt candy, snack foods, and bottled water from sales tax.

Election results

California Proposition 163
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		6,967,009	66.62%
No		3,491,372	33.38%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Proposition 163 was as follows:

“

Ends Taxation of Certain Food Products. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.

”

Ballot summary

The ballot summary for this measure was:

“

• Amends Constitution to prohibit state and local governments from imposing sales or use taxes on food products which are exempt from such taxation under existing statutes or this initiative. • Adds statute exempting candy, bottled water, and snack foods from sales and use taxes. Summary of Legislative Analyst's Estimate of Net State and Local Government Fiscal Impact: • Reduces sales and use tax revenue to the state by $210 million in the current year (1992-93) and $330 million annually thereafter. • Reduces sales and use tax revenue to local governments by $70 million in the current year and $120 million annually thereafter.

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Signature requirements for ballot measures in California

In California, the number of signatures required for a combined initiated constitutional amendment and state statute is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast at the preceding gubernatorial election. For initiated amendments filed in 1992, at least 615,958 valid signatures were required.

See also

1992 Measures

• 1992 Measures
• Food policy on the ballot
• Food and beverage taxes on the ballot
• Sales taxes on the ballot
• 1992 legislative sessions

California

• California ballot measures
• California ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• California Voter Guide (November 1992)