Vinod's Blog:California Ballot Propositions

It's voting season out here in the People's Republic of California so I thought I'd give out-of-state readers a quick idea about the political climate out here. The key statewide propositions are below and I did a bit of research to see how the GOP, Libertarians, Dems, and Greens all lined up -

State Proposition	Republican	Libertarian	Democrats	Greens	Explanation
73	Yes	n/a	No	No	Require parental notification when minors seek abortion.
74	Yes	Yes	No	No	Increase minimum service requirements for CA teachers before they're eligible for tenure
75	Yes	Yes	No	No	Limit ability of public employees unions to contribute to political causes
76	Yes	Yes	No	No	Reengineer state spending limits - including previous "mandatory allocations" for education - in order to help balance budget.
77	Yes	Yes	No	No	Remove redistricting authority from legislators and place in hands of independent judicial panel
78	Yes	No	No	No	Prescription drug discounts for poor / low incomes via pharmacy discounts.
79	No	No	Yes	Yes	State managed prescription drug rebates
80	No	No	Yes	n/a	Extend control of California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to additional sectors & activities in state energy grid; Mandatory investment in alternative energy.

Folk who find it easy to issue blanket comdemnations about the "failure of the 2 part system" might be hard pressed to explain this. I tend to be pretty much at peace with it and am actually somewhat relieved to see that at least when it comes to local politics, the Libertarian and Republican parties in such tight synch. And, alas, we also see the Dems and Greens marching in lockstep.

The Governator (et. al.) pitch props 73-77 as the "reform and restructuring" suite - the Cali equivalent of that recurring "vote for change" mantra. We'll see what's left of it when the smoke clears tomorrow.

Permanent link for California Ballot Propositions

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