California Proposition 56, Lower Threshold Required to Pass the State Budget Amendment (March 2004)

California Proposition 56
Election date March 2, 2004
Topic State and local government budgets, spending and finance
Status d Defeated
Type Amendment & Statute	Origin Citizens

California Proposition 56 was on the ballot as a combined initiated constitutional amendment and state statute in California on March 2, 2004. It was defeated.

A "yes" vote supported this constitutional amendment to:  *decrease the threshold for the legislature to pass the state budget from a two-thirds vote to a 55% vote and *require legislators and the governor to lose their salary for each day that the budget is late.

A "no" vote opposed this constitutional amendment to: * decrease the threshold for the legislature to pass the state budget from a two-thirds vote to a 55% vote and * require legislators and the governor to lose their salary for each day that the budget is late.

Overview

Proposition 56 would have decreased the threshold for the California State Legislature to pass the state budget from a two-thirds vote to a 55% vote. Proposition 56 would have also eliminated salaries for legislators and the governor for each day that the state budget was late.

The two-thirds vote requirement was created with the passage of California Proposition 13 in 1978.

Election results

California Proposition 56
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		2,185,868	34.32%
No		4,183,188	65.68%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Proposition 56 was as follows:

“

State Budget, Related Taxes, and Reserve. Voting Requirements. Penalties. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.

”

Ballot summary

The ballot summary for this measure was:

“

Permits Legislature to enact budget and budget-related tax and appropriation bills with 55% vote rather than 2/3 vote. Requires that Legislature, Governor permanently lose salary, expenses for each day budget is late. Requires that Legislature stay in session until budget is passed. Requires budget summary in state ballot pamphlet and link to Internet website with legislators' voting records on budget and related taxes. Requires 25% of certain state revenue increases be deposited in reserve fund, which cannot be used to increase spending.

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Fiscal impact statement

The fiscal impact statement was as follows:

“

This measure would have varying state fiscal impacts from lowering the legislative vote requirement for budget-related spending and tax increases - including changes in spending and potentially significant increases in state tax revenues in some years. Fiscal impacts would depend primarily on the composition and actions of future Legislatures.

”

Support

Supporters

• SEIU California State Council
• California Tax Reform Association
• League of Women Voters of California
• California State PTA
• California AARP
• California Professional Firefighters

Opposition

Opponents

• California Taxpayers Association
• California Chamber of Commerce
• The Seniors Coalition
• California Republican Party

Path to the ballot

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 combined initiatives filed in 2003, at least 598,105 valid signatures were required.

See also

2004 Measures

• 2004 Measures
• State legislative vote requirements on the ballot
• 2004 legislative sessions

California

• California ballot measures
• California ballot measure laws

News and analysis

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

External links

• March 2004 Voter Guide