Official CFRW Proposition Positions
That June Primary Election is sneaking up on us! The California Federation of Republican Women take official positions on each of the ballot measures each election. From now until June, the Capitol Update will provide our official positions, as well as a "Prop Spotlight" to explain further our position, talking points,background, and information about each proposition. It is up to YOU, as a member of the California Federation of Republican Women, to educate voters on these ballot measures! Californians are tragically uniformed, and the legislature thrives on it. Remind them that these propositions were placed on the ballot by the legislature, written with a bias, and are intentionally deceptive. Californians deserve better!
Prop Spotlight: Prop 68 - The California Parks, Environment, and Water Bond
The CFRW recommends a NO vote.
Ballot Title: Authorizes Bonds Funding Parks, Natural Resources Protection, Climate Adaptation, Water Quality and Supply, and Flood Protection
Ballot Summary:
Authorizes $4 billion in general obligation bonds for: creation and rehabilitation of state and local parks, natural resources protection projects, climate adaptation projects, water quality and supply projects, and flood protection projects.
Reallocates $100 million of unused bond authority from prior bond acts for the same purposes.
Appropriates moneys from the General Fund to pay off bonds.
Requires non-state matching funds for certain projects and favors disadvantaged communities for certain projects.
Requires annual audits
Background
This proposition began as SB 5 (De Leon, D) in 2016. It passed along party lines in the Senate, but was amended in the Assembly to raise the price from $3.8 billion to $4 billion, earning three Republican votes as it passed there 56-21. There are two types of bonds that we, as Californians, vote on: general obligation bonds and revenue bonds. Prop 68 is a general obligation bond. This means that the bond is sold to investors as taxpayer pays back the bond over many years, in this prop's case, 30 years. Accoring to our state's constitution, any bond issued over $300,000 must be placed on a statewide ballot to go before voters. Since 1993 when that law came into place, 39 general obligation bonds have been on our ballots. Of those, 31 of them were passed by our voters. An even more shocking statistic, just 6 of those 39 general obligation bonds were citizen-driven bonds. A total of 33 general obligation bonds, since 1993, have been put on our ballots by our legislature. The most common bonds are water and education bonds- 7 each have appeared since 1993. California has $73.33 billion in outstanding general obligation bond debt. Perhaps worse, we have $31.9 billion in unissued bonds that the voters have passed.
Talking Points
Official CFRW Positions
Proposition 68: California Parks, Environment, and Water Bond- would issue a $4 billion general obligation bond, with a 3.5% interest rate over 30 years, bringing the bill to the taxpayers up to $6.4 billion total. The CFRW says vote NO.
Proposition 69: Transportation Taxes and Fees Lockbox and Appropriations Limit Exemption Amendment- states that Senate Bill 1 revenue from diesel taxes will be placed in a “lockbox” and used only for transportation fund purposes. The CFRW says vote NO.
Proposition 70: Vote Requirement to Use Cap and Trade Funds Amendment- would require a one-time vote in 2024 by a 2/3rds legislative majority to allocate state Cap and Trade program revenue. The CFRW says vote NO.
Proposition 71: Effective Date of Ballot Measures Amendment- changes the date for when voter approved ballot measures take effect from the day after the election to the fifth day after the Secretary of State certifies the election. The CFRW says vote YES.
Proposition 72: Rainwater Capture Systems Excluded from Property Tax Assessment- would exclude any new rainwater capture structures from property value tax reassessment from counting as a new structure. The CFRW says vote YES.
If you would like ALL the talking points for each proposition, please email our Advocate at advocate@cfrw.org.
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AB 1745 Update
AB 1745 (Ting, D) was scheduled to be heard in the Assembly Transportation Committee this week. Assemblyman Ting cancelled the hearing without rescheduling. This is good news! As you will recall, AB 1745 would have mandated that all gas-powered vehicles would be banned from DMV registration in California by 2040. This bill has no foresight, no plan, and so many unintended consequences. We will keep you posted on its status!
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Sharing is Caring!
We encourage our Republican Women Federated members to share the information they find here in the Capitol Update. As a member of the CFRW, you have access to information about what is happening in our state Capitol that is not readily available or easy to find. Now we want you to pass on this information to other Californians who need to know what is really being passed in Sacramento. You can print out your copy of the Capitol Update to hand out. You can copy and paste into your club's newsletter. You can forward this email to people you know (if you do choose to forward, remember to erase the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of the email. It will be a “live” link, even in the email forward, and if someone clicks it, they will unsubscribe the original receiver- you). You can even copy and paste segments of the Capitol Update into your Social Media. However you choose to share, please just share!
______
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.
That June Primary Election is sneaking up on us! The California Federation of Republican Women take official positions on each of the ballot measures each election. From now until June, the Capitol Update will provide our official positions, as well as a "Prop Spotlight" to explain further our position, talking points,background, and information about each proposition. It is up to YOU, as a member of the California Federation of Republican Women, to educate voters on these ballot measures! Californians are tragically uniformed, and the legislature thrives on it. Remind them that these propositions were placed on the ballot by the legislature, written with a bias, and are intentionally deceptive. Californians deserve better!
Prop Spotlight: Prop 68 - The California Parks, Environment, and Water Bond
The CFRW recommends a NO vote.
Ballot Title: Authorizes Bonds Funding Parks, Natural Resources Protection, Climate Adaptation, Water Quality and Supply, and Flood Protection
Ballot Summary:
Authorizes $4 billion in general obligation bonds for: creation and rehabilitation of state and local parks, natural resources protection projects, climate adaptation projects, water quality and supply projects, and flood protection projects.
Reallocates $100 million of unused bond authority from prior bond acts for the same purposes.
Appropriates moneys from the General Fund to pay off bonds.
Requires non-state matching funds for certain projects and favors disadvantaged communities for certain projects.
Requires annual audits
Background
This proposition began as SB 5 (De Leon, D) in 2016. It passed along party lines in the Senate, but was amended in the Assembly to raise the price from $3.8 billion to $4 billion, earning three Republican votes as it passed there 56-21. There are two types of bonds that we, as Californians, vote on: general obligation bonds and revenue bonds. Prop 68 is a general obligation bond. This means that the bond is sold to investors as taxpayer pays back the bond over many years, in this prop's case, 30 years. Accoring to our state's constitution, any bond issued over $300,000 must be placed on a statewide ballot to go before voters. Since 1993 when that law came into place, 39 general obligation bonds have been on our ballots. Of those, 31 of them were passed by our voters. An even more shocking statistic, just 6 of those 39 general obligation bonds were citizen-driven bonds. A total of 33 general obligation bonds, since 1993, have been put on our ballots by our legislature. The most common bonds are water and education bonds- 7 each have appeared since 1993. California has $73.33 billion in outstanding general obligation bond debt. Perhaps worse, we have $31.9 billion in unissued bonds that the voters have passed.
Talking Points
- Prop 68 is deceptive. What is billed as a $4 billion bond will really cost us closer to $7 billion. This means higher taxes so that a few coastal politicians can divvy out our money for pet projects. The money issued here is not even fairly divided among Californians so that all could see local park improvements.
- The authors of this prop would have you believe the funding is necessary for drought and groundwater investment. But only 13% of this proposition's funds would be allocated for that purpose. The rest would be doled out for conservation grants with little left over for necessary deferred maintenance.
- With a 3.5% interest rate over 30 years, our politicians are passing the buck on this bond. At least $2.53 billion in interest will accumulate, bringing the total cost of this bond to $6.53 billion.
- Currently our state has unfunded pension liablities costs that are rising. Our public school borrowed debt is $500 million a year, retiree medical pension liability is at $91 billion, and affordable housing debt is at $169 million a year. Why are we throwing more debt onto the pile?
- We need to ask ourselves two simple questions: 1. How effective have past bond measures been (particularly our 2014 water bond)? and 2. Do we really need to add to our state's debt?
Official CFRW Positions
- Prop 68: NO
- Prop 69: NO
- Prop 70: NO
- Prop 71: YES
- Prop 72: YES
Proposition 68: California Parks, Environment, and Water Bond- would issue a $4 billion general obligation bond, with a 3.5% interest rate over 30 years, bringing the bill to the taxpayers up to $6.4 billion total. The CFRW says vote NO.
Proposition 69: Transportation Taxes and Fees Lockbox and Appropriations Limit Exemption Amendment- states that Senate Bill 1 revenue from diesel taxes will be placed in a “lockbox” and used only for transportation fund purposes. The CFRW says vote NO.
Proposition 70: Vote Requirement to Use Cap and Trade Funds Amendment- would require a one-time vote in 2024 by a 2/3rds legislative majority to allocate state Cap and Trade program revenue. The CFRW says vote NO.
Proposition 71: Effective Date of Ballot Measures Amendment- changes the date for when voter approved ballot measures take effect from the day after the election to the fifth day after the Secretary of State certifies the election. The CFRW says vote YES.
Proposition 72: Rainwater Capture Systems Excluded from Property Tax Assessment- would exclude any new rainwater capture structures from property value tax reassessment from counting as a new structure. The CFRW says vote YES.
If you would like ALL the talking points for each proposition, please email our Advocate at advocate@cfrw.org.
____
____
AB 1745 Update
AB 1745 (Ting, D) was scheduled to be heard in the Assembly Transportation Committee this week. Assemblyman Ting cancelled the hearing without rescheduling. This is good news! As you will recall, AB 1745 would have mandated that all gas-powered vehicles would be banned from DMV registration in California by 2040. This bill has no foresight, no plan, and so many unintended consequences. We will keep you posted on its status!
____
Sharing is Caring!
We encourage our Republican Women Federated members to share the information they find here in the Capitol Update. As a member of the CFRW, you have access to information about what is happening in our state Capitol that is not readily available or easy to find. Now we want you to pass on this information to other Californians who need to know what is really being passed in Sacramento. You can print out your copy of the Capitol Update to hand out. You can copy and paste into your club's newsletter. You can forward this email to people you know (if you do choose to forward, remember to erase the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of the email. It will be a “live” link, even in the email forward, and if someone clicks it, they will unsubscribe the original receiver- you). You can even copy and paste segments of the Capitol Update into your Social Media. However you choose to share, please just share!
______
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.
