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March 19, 2010
CFRW Proposition Voter Guide
Tuesday, June 8th, is the Primary Election for California. On the ballot there are five statewide initiatives, two of which could drastically change how we vote and are represented. The California Federation of Republican Women recommends the following voting guide for members of CFRW and “no-nonsense” California voters.
Prop 13: Limits on Property Tax Assessment. Seismic Retrofitting of Existing Buildings. Legislative Constitutional Amendment: CFRW recommends a YES vote.
Prop 13 would protect home and business owners from new taxes if they decide to seismically retrofit their property. If a property assessment was made AFTER the retrofitting was done on an existing structure, the value of the new retrofit on the property would not be taxable. This proposition would protect taxpayers from sneaky property taxes.
Prop 14: Primary Election Process Reform. Greater Participation in Elections: CFRW recommends a NO vote.
Don’t let the title of this proposition fool you. Greater participation, unlikely. Less representation, definitely. This proposition is on the ballot because of a backdoor budget vote trade, and Democrats and Republicans actually agree, this is not a good idea. This would create a “top two” primary election and prohibits Central Committee and party nomination for candidates. It is entirely possibly that in a general election, two Democrats could be running against each other, or two Republicans. There is no real evidence that constituents will be more likely to vote in a primary election without the party restrictions.
Prop 15: California Fair Elections Act. CFRW recommends a NO vote.
Another cleverly disguised title. Prop 15 would create publicly funded races for the Secretary of State’s office for the 2014 and 2018 election cycles. What is scary about this initiative is that it repeals the 1978 Political Reform Act that prohibits candidates from receiving public moneys for seeking elective office. Instead the Secretary of State will collect money transferred from a “Fair Elections Fund” to the Fair Political Practices Committee for the purposes of funding this act. The Legislature could vote to extend this act to all statewide offices at anytime. Money to fund this act would be collected by imposing a tax on all CA lobbyists, expanding their filing fee from about $25 to $700.
Prop 16: Imposes New Two-Thirds Voter Approval Requirement for Local Public Electricity Providers. Initiative Constitutional Amendment. CFRW recommends a YES vote.
This proposition requires that there be a public vote if the local electricity providers are to change. PG&E are the big supporters for this bill, but the California Republican Party also supports the initiative.
Prop 17: Allows Auto Insurance Companies to Base Their Prices in Part on a Driver's History of Insurance Coverage. Initiative Statute. CFRW recommends a YES vote.
Another proposition that the California Republican Party has also recommended a support position. Prop 17 allows good drivers with continuous coverage to keep their discounted insurance rate if they choose to switch insurance companies. This will simply create more options for the consumer.
Tracking Legislation
Although we are unable to give our members access to our web-based bill tracking service, there is a way you can find and monitor California legislation. You can access that information on the internet by going to the Legislature Home Page and completing the information on the right side by either indicating the bill number, the author, or key words. You can then subscribe to an email update and you will be notified when there is action on legislation of interest to you
Disclaimer: The Capitol Update is an activity of the CFRW Advocate's Office. The update is for information only. CFRW official positions on legislation are stated immediately preceding the stated legislation or immediately following the stated legislation in this report.
California Federation of Republican Women
Mariann Hedstrom, President
Palm Desert, Indian Wells,
Bermuda Dunes, Thousand Palms,
La Quinta, Rancho Mirage, Indio and Coachella.