State Ballot Measures

Voters Must Make Critical Decisions on November 7th

By Bill Allayaud, State Legislative Director, Sierra Club California

In what has become the norm, the November7th ballot will be filled with a wide range of issues placed there by the Legislature and by advocates pushing initiatives. Sierra Club California has taken positions on a number of these measures because they directly relate to the issues we care about. Some of these measures are very controversial and the stakes are high, so you strongly encouraged to read-up and vote! A summary of each measure with the position adopted by the statewide conservation committee and Sierra Club California Executive Committee follows.

Proposition 1b – Transportation Bond: NO POSITION or neutral. This is a $19.675 billion bond measure that will fund new lanes and other improvements on congested highways, new bridges, more mass transit, including rail, and improvements to port operations. At the time of this writing, a debate is still taking place within the Sierra Club as to a position. Among other arguments, some laud the over $4 billion for mass transit, while others point out that highways should be paid for by user fees rather than general obligation bonds. The legislation that authorized this bond measure did not include waivers from environmental review for any projects.

Proposition 1c – Housing Bond: SUPPORT. This is a $2.85 billion bond measure that will facilitate affordable housing of several types. It will also provide money to local governments to provide infrastructure for transit-oriented development and money for planning for infill development. Both of these, affordable housing and money for smart growth planning are consistent with our statewide growth management guidelines.

Proposition 1d – Schools Bond: SUPPORT. This is a $10.4 billion bond measure for school modernization and to reduce school overcrowding. Like the housing bond, this is consistent with our growth management guidelines, as the schools that need this money the most are in urban areas and older suburban areas.

Proposition 1e – Levees and Flooding Bond: NEUTRAL. This is a $4 billion bond measure that would allow deteriorating levees in the Sacramento River system, including the Delta, to be fixed. The legislation that authorized this measure provides for a streamlined permitting process, but not an exemption for any environmental review or permitting process. Also, the footprint of the levees cannot be expanded.

Proposition 84 – Water Supply/Quality and Parks Bond: SUPPORT. This is a $5.3 billion bond that would allow for improvements to quality of local drinking water supplies, conservation of open space, streams, and forests through increased purchase of parks and conservation easement, and water quality work including for clean beaches. This omnibus measure seems to have something for everybody, hence a diverse group of entities support it. Monies from the park bond measures passed by voters over the last eight years are nearly gone.

Proposition 85 – Parental Notification for Abortions: OPPOSE. This constitutional amendment is very similar to Prop 73, which we the Sierra Club opposed and which narrowly lost during last year’s special election. It would require parental consent or a court order prior to a woman under the age of 18 receiving an abortion. Many health care groups oppose the measure because it could encourage illegal, unsafe, amateur abortions. Sierra Cub has had taken pro-choice positions since 1969 in support of our policies on population and women’s access to family planning services and reproductive health care.

Proposition 87 – The Clean Energy Initiative: SUPPORT. This measure will fund a $4 billion dollar effort to reduce California’s dependence on gasoline and diesel by 25% over 10 years, through incentives to make alternative fuel vehicles and alternative fuels more widely available and affordable to consumers and by funding research to bring clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies to the marketplace more quickly. The money will be raised by a tax on every barrel of oil extracted from land or water areas in California.

Proposition 89 – The Clean Money Initiative: SUPPORT. This measure, sponsored by the California Nurses Association, would enact public financing of political campaigns and set new limits on political contributions and expenditures. This initiative proposes to remove corporate wealth as a major factor in elections through a voluntary system in which candidates may receive public campaign funding from the Fair Political Practices Commission in amounts varying by elective office and type of election. Prop 89 also sets new limits on campaign contributions to state-office candidates and campaign committees and new restrictions on contributions and expenditures by lobbyists and corporations. The primary revenue for the Clean Money Fund is generated by a 0.2 percent increase in taxes on corporations and financial institutions.

Proposition 90 – Eminent Domain and Damages: OPPOSE. This measure is an extremely important for all that the Sierra Club works on. The proponent, a wealthy East Coast developer and well-known Libertarian, claim it’s just about stopping the abuse of eminent domain by local governments; hence they call it the “Save Our Homes” initiative. But, we have re-labeled is as the “Taxpayer Trap” initiative because of a hidden provision that says that basically any regulatory action a city, county, or state agency takes could be termed as “damaging” the value of private property. This amendment to the State Constitution would both result in billions of dollars of taxpayer money being spent on litigation and payouts for bogus damages, and in local and state agencies being reluctant to regulate the uses that affect our air, water, and land. The Coastal Commission, the State Air and Water Boards, Fish and Game, and local zoning and planning bodies would all be adversely affected if this passes. Defeating this measure is of the highest priority for all environmental groups in the state.

Politics & Issues