Welcome to the Wednesday, July 3, Brew. This will be the last Daily Brew of the week due to the July 4 holiday. Check back next Monday, July 8, for an all-new Daily Brew!  

By: Ethan Sorell

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. Statewide ballot initiatives finalized in California after record initiative withdrawals and legislative action
2. Six state legislatures still in session; remaining 40 with sessions in 2024 are adjourned
3. Upcoming voter participation deadlines

Statewide ballot initiatives finalized in California after record number of initiative withdrawals and legislative action

The deadline to qualify or withdraw an initiative from the California ballot was June 27. This cycle, 12 ballot initiatives qualified for the ballot. By the June 27 deadline, only five remained on the ballot. Six initiatives were withdrawn after qualifying for the ballot—the most since the practice was authorized in 2014 for initiated laws and amendments and for veto referendums as well since 2023.

Proponents withdrew the following six initiatives after compromises were reached with the governor and Legislature or the campaign announced a different strategy:

1. Pandemic Early Detection and Prevention Institute Initiative
2. Employee Civil Action Law and PAGA Repeal Initiative
3. Require Personal Finance Course for High School Graduation Initiative
4. Changes to the State Children’s Services Program Initiative
5. Oil and Gas Well Regulations Referendum
6. Fast Food Restaurant Minimum Wage and Labor Regulations Referendum

California is one of four states that allow sponsors of a citizen initiative to withdraw the measure after it has qualified for the ballot. Colorado, Idaho, and Nevada also allow campaigns to withdraw initiatives after qualifying for the ballot. The timeframe for withdrawal varies from 60 days before the election in Colorado to 131 days in California.

Campaigns withdraw their proposals for various reasons. The most common reason for withdrawal is reaching a legislative compromise, where the Legislature approves a version of the proposed initiative. Proponents may do this to forgo a costly campaign.

In California, campaigns have also withdrawn initiatives after they qualified an alternative version of the proposal or the campaign decided to pursue a different strategy. This is the case for the oil and gas well referendum. The campaign said it plans to pursue litigation over the targeted bill because it believes repealing the law will not keep the Legislature from passing future legislation enacting similar policies. 

The California Supreme Court removed a seventh ballot initiative that would have increased vote requirements for new state and local taxes after it determined the measure amounted to a constitutional revision, which cannot be enacted via citizen initiative.

The campaigns behind the withdrawn or disqualified initiatives raised $180.5 million through March 31. The Save Local Restaurants campaign, which sponsored a veto referendum against the fast food minimum wage law, raised the most among campaigns supporting withdrawn initiatives at  $71.7 million.

The five remaining ballot initiatives include:

• changes to Proposition 47 (2014), resulting in increased drug and theft penalties; 
• an $18 minimum wage increase; 
• permanent authorization of a tax on managed care organizations to fund Medi-Cal programs; 
• prohibiting state limits on local rent control;
• and requiring healthcare providers to spend 98% of revenues from the federal discount prescription drug program on direct patient care.

The table below shows the number of initiatives filed per election cycle and the number certified for the ballot.

As shown above, an average of 82 ballot initiatives were filed each cycle from 2010 to 2024, with voters approving an average of 9.3 (11.8%) each cycle. 

Since sponsors have been able to withdraw ballot initiatives ahead of the deadline, 14 citizen initiatives have been withdrawn from 2016 to 2024.

In addition to the five initiatives, the Legislature placed four constitutional amendments on the ballot in November:

1. to establish a right to marry and repeal Proposition 8 (2008);
2. to require initiatives that change vote thresholds to supermajority votes to pass by the same vote requirement as is being proposed;
3. to remove involuntary servitude as punishment for crime;
4. and to lower the vote threshold from 66.67% to 55% for local special taxes to fund housing projects and public infrastructure.

Democratic legislators also announced their intent to put a competing measure related to drug and theft crimes on the ballot by July 4. The legislatively referred state statute would increase penalties for repeated theft if the offenses occur within three years of each other. It would also increase penalties for fentanyl dealers. The bill also includes a provision stating that any initiatives related to similar subjects are wholly in conflict with the legislative referral and would be void if the referral passes with more affirmative votes than the ballot initiative. This would apply to the initiative that proposes changes to Proposition 47.

The amendment to change vote thresholds for initiatives enacting increased voter approval requirements may be moved to the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot. The Legislature introduced Assembly Bill 440 on June 27, which would waive the provision in the state election code that requires legislatively referred constitutional amendments to be on the ballot of the first statewide election occurring at least 131 days after its adoption by the state legislature. The amendment was proposed in response to the initiative that would have increased vote requirements for new taxes, but the Supreme Court ultimately removed it from the ballot.

A fifth legislative referral was withdrawn by its sponsor on June 24 that would have repealed Article 34, which requires local voter approval via a ballot measure for federal and/or state government-funded housing projects classified as low rent. Sen. Ben Allen (D), one of the sponsors of the amendment, explained the removal, saying, “While (the repeal) was one of many efforts to help address the housing crisis, the November ballot will be very crowded and reaching voters will be difficult and expensive.”

California voters decided on 402 ballot measures from 1985 to 2022, averaging 8.93 per cycle. Of those, voters approved 231 and rejected 171.

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Six state legislatures still in session; remaining 40 with sessions in 2024 are adjourned for the year

Summer usually means lessened state legislative activity, as most states wrap up their work in the first half of the year. Let’s get up to speed on where state legislatures are still in session. 

Forty-six state legislatures hold regular sessions every year. The other four states—Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Texas—meet in odd-numbered years. A state’s constitution, statute, or legislature may set the length of a session. A state’s governor or legislature may also call a special or extraordinary session on a specific subject during or after a regular session.

Ten state legislatures have full-time legislators, meaning the legislature meets throughout the year. All other legislators are considered part-time because they only meet for a portion of the year.

As of today

• Forty states’ regular sessions have ended. 
• Two states are expected to begin a special session this month: Nebraska and New Mexico.
• Six state legislatures are in regular session: California, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. 

State governments across the country hold legislative sessions, during which elected representatives meet for a designated period to draft and vote on legislation and set state policies on issues such as taxation, education, and government spending. 

Two states will conclude regular sessions this summer: California and Massachusetts. Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio’s sessions will continue until at least Dec. 31, 2024. Pennsylvania’s session will end on Nov. 30, 2024. Two states are expected to begin a special session this month: Nebraska on July 26, 2024, and New Mexico on July 18, 2024. 

Learn more about your state’s legislative session dates at the link below. 

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ICYMI – a busy week of politics

It’s been a busy week of politics. Here are a few things to share before you head off on your July 4 holiday.

Ballotpedia launches Artificial Intelligence Deepfake Legislation Tracker

• Deepfakes, an offshoot of artificial intelligence (AI), have become a pressing social and political issue that an increasing number of state lawmakers are trying to address through legislation. That’s why we’ve created and launched a comprehensive AI Deepfake Legislation Tracker. As a part of that launch, we have published Ballotpedia’s State of Deepfake Legislation 2024 Annual Report, available here. 

State of Election Administration Mid-Year Report 

• State legislators introduce thousands of bills each year, affecting how Americans vote and elections are administered. Ballotpedia’s State of Election Administration 2024 Mid-Year Report provides insights, analysis, and takeaways from election-related bills we tracked this year. Ballotpedia’s comprehensive Election Administration Legislation Tracker is the basis for the data and analysis in this report. Click here to dive into the full report. 

The Supreme Court wraps up its term

• The Supreme Court began hearing cases for the term on October 2, 2023. As the Court’s schedule comes to a close, take a look at Ballotpedia’s coverage of the Court’s cases throughout the term by clicking here.

Ballotpedia’s battleground primary coverage is heating up

• As spring turns into summer, Ballotpedia’s battleground primary coverage is heating up. In 2024, Ballotpedia is covering 202 battleground primaries and general elections. This figure includes 141 battleground elections for federal office, 46 state-level battlegrounds, and 11 municipal battlegrounds. Click here to check out our coverage of those battleground races.

Abortion-related ballot measures nationwide

• Abortion-related ballot measures are now certified in five states: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, New York, and South Dakota. Additionally, signatures for abortion-related measures are pending verification in seven states: Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Click here to check out Ballotpedia’s coverage of abortion-related ballot measures nationwide.