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California Proposition 208, Campaign Contribution and Spending Limits Initiative (1996)
| California Proposition 208 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 5, 1996 | |
| Topic Campaign finance | |
Status / Approved/Overturned | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
California Proposition 208 was on the ballot as an initiated state statute in California on November 5, 1996. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported enacting campaign finance limits, prohibiting lobbyists from making contributions, and creating penalties for campaign finance violations. |
A "no" vote opposed enacting campaign finance limits, prohibiting lobbyists from making contributions, and creating penalties for campaign finance violations. |
Election results
|
California Proposition 208 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
|
|
5,716,349 | 61.27% | ||
| No | 3,612,813 | 38.73% | ||
Overview
A successful lawsuit was filed in federal court challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 208. A federal district judge declared it unconstitutional, so its provisions did not go into effect.[1]
If Proposition 208 had gone into effect, it would have:
- limited the amount of campaign contributions that an individual or group could make to a candidate for state and local elective office;
- prohibited lobbyists from making contributions;
- established voluntary campaign spending limits;
- limited when campaign fund-raising may occur; and
- established penalties for violations of the measure and increased penalties for existing campaign law violations.
In 2000, voters passed Proposition 34. Proposition 34 was regarded as an attempt to accomplish what Proposition 208 was designed to do, but with fewer restrictions on campaign donations.
Proposition 212, which also concerned campaign finance in California, was also on the 1996 ballot.
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Proposition 208 was as follows:
| “ | Campaign Contributions and Spending Limits. Restricts Lobbyists. | ” |
Ballot summary
The ballot summary for this measure was:
| “ |
Limits a contributor's campaign contributions per candidate to $100 for districts of less than 100,000, $250 for larger districts, and $500 for statewide elections. Committees of small contributors can contribute twice the limit. Contribution limits approximately double for candidates who agree to limit spending. Limits total contributions from political parties, businesses, unions and others. Prohibits transfers between candidates. Limits fundraising to specified time before election. Prohibits lobbyists from making and arranging contributions to those they influence. Requires disclosure of top contributors on ballot measure advertising. Increases penalties under Political Reform Act. | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Fiscal impact statement
The fiscal impact statement was as follows:[2]
| “ |
|
” |
Path to the ballot
In 1996, 433,269 valid signatures were required to qualify an initiated state statute for the ballot.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Ross Johnson, the regretful lawmaker," November 3, 2009
- ↑ University of California, "Voter Guide," accessed May 6, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
