Ballot Measures

Because a number of GFCers have asked how I’ll be voting on state ballot measures this year, I thought it would be easiest to create a post that you can disregard if not interested.

As we’ve been noting for some time now, a political renaissance is taking place in California as more political philanthropists engage in effective political activism. An example is TogetherSF Action, which scored a big victory earlier this week when, over the Mayor’s objection, it earned the San Francisco Democratic Party endorsement for Prop D, which would streamline the city’s commission system to make elected officials more accountable.

Everyone knows the truth. In California it is serious drug addiction that drives homelessness, overdose deaths and retail theft. The solution is mass treatment. Voters took a step in that direction in March by approving Proposition 1, which authorizes Bonds for Mental Health Treatment Facilities. The next step must be taken in November with voter approval of Proposition 36, The Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act that will give judges the tools to require treatment.

The good news is that a tax increase measure has been pulled from the November ballot. The bad news is that Governor Newsom and legislative leaders announced a budget deal that draws from taxpayer reserves and thereby boosts pressure for a tax increase down the road.

A crypto billionaire who shelters his company from US taxes by housing it in the Bahamas is financing tax increase legislation in California.

Two social media and crypto executives are behind an initiative on the November ballot that would jeopardize steady funding for services financed by the General Fund and force state taxpayers to use after-tax dollars to fund what the sponsors and others like them could fund with pre-tax dollars.

Believe it or not, the ride-sharing company Lyft is sponsoring an initiative that would have taxpayers finance its fleets. Masquerading as a measure to address climate change and forest fires through additional taxpayer financing of electric vehicles, charging stations and fire suppression, the measure would add 1.75 percentage points to the state income tax rate — ie, a 13 percent increase in the top tax rate, already at 13.3 percent — applied to incomes of over $2 million per year.