California Democratic leaders took their positions at their annual executive committee meeting this weekend on a series of statewide measures that will or could appear on the November ballot.
In a state where Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans, the state party’s support would benefit the advocates it champions during a costly campaign.
Party positions were made at the sometimes contentious committee meeting for much of Saturday afternoon, with high-profile speakers including civil rights leader Dolores Huerta and Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles. Some seemed to support some of the measures. The party formally endorsed their choice in a vote on Sunday morning.
Party leaders support Parliamentary Constitutional Amendment 1a measure Democrats put on the ballot in the state Legislature Voters will be asked Whether to lower voting thresholds for new taxes and bonds to increase funding for affordable housing and public infrastructure projects.
California currently requires two-thirds of voters to approve certain special tax increases and bond measures. The amendment lowers the threshold for approval of new special taxes and bonds for local affordable housing and public infrastructure projects to 55%.
The party also supports Parliamentary Constitutional Amendment 5the bill would amend the state constitution to remove outdated language from Proposition 8, passed by California voters in 2008, which described marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman and reaffirmed the right of same-sex couples to marry.
The outdated state definition is considered unenforceable and unconstitutional due to federal law, but LGBTQ+ advocacy groups are asking voters to repeal the definition and amend the California constitution to explicitly state that marriage is “a fundamental right.”
States parties voted in favor of parliamentary constitutional amendment On the 13th, it was the third measure to be voted on by the Democratic-led Legislature. The measure comes in response to a business-led effort to make it harder for California to pass new taxes.
If passed, Amendment 13 would require ballot initiatives seeking to raise the voter threshold for statewide measures to meet a similarly higher standard to take effect (so if a measure seeks to raise the voter approval threshold from 50% to two times) passed by a two-thirds majority, the measure must also be passed by a two-thirds majority to take effect).
The party has also taken positions on a series of measures that have collected the signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot but won’t officially qualify until the state’s late June deadline. The party voted to:
