Welcome to the Wednesday, September 25, Brew.
By: Ethan Sorell
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Voters set to decide on 10 state ballot measures related to property taxes this year
- Nine new deepfake bills enacted in California
- Incumbent Kirsten Baesler and Jason Heitkamp are running in the nonpartisan general election for North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction
Voters set to decide on 10 state ballot measures related to property taxes this year
In last Wednesday’s Brew, we looked at some of the biggest trends for state ballot measures this year, including abortion policies, citizenship and voting, electoral systems, minimum wage and benefits, criminal justice, and drug use policies. Today, let’s turn our attention to property tax ballot measures.
Voters will decide on 10 property tax ballot measures in 10 states, including nine on Nov. 5 and one on Dec. 7. A measure, in Missouri, was decided in August, bringing the total to 11 for 2024. That is higher than the average of 9.7 ballot measures relating to property taxes that voters decided in even years since 2014.
On Aug. 6, Missouri voters rejected an amendment that would have exempted childcare establishments from property taxes.
Four ballot measures in three states—Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia—concern property taxes exemptions for veterans.
- Colorado Amendment G would expand the property tax exemption for veterans with disabilities to include veterans with individual unemployability status as determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The Colorado Legislative Council Staff estimated that the amendment would allow 3,400 veterans who would otherwise be ineligible to claim the property tax exemption.
- New Mexico voters will decide on Amendment 1, which would extend the disabled veteran property tax exemption to all disabled veterans (or their surviving spouses) in proportion to their federal disability rating. Amendment 2 would increase the property tax exemption for honorably discharged veterans or their surviving spouses from $4,000 to $10,000 beginning in tax year 2024.
- Virginia voters will decide on a constitutional amendment regarding property tax exemptions for veterans and surviving spouses to say “died in the line of duty” rather than “killed in action.” The measures would use the U.S. Department of Defense’s definition of “line of duty.”
Two measures, in Florida and Georgia, concern homestead property tax exemptions. Homestead property tax exemptions exempt a certain percentage of a home’s value from property taxation. Increases to homestead property tax exemptions are designed to reduce homeowners’ property tax bills.
- Florida Amendment 5 would mandate an annual inflation adjustment for the value of the homestead property tax exemption. The adjustment would apply to non-school taxes. In Florida, every primary residence is eligible for a $25,000 homestead exemption, which exempts that amount from all taxes. Another $25,000 homestead exemption is applied on a homestead’s value between $50,000 and $75,000, which exempts that amount from all taxes except school district taxes.
- Georgia Referendum A would increase the personal property tax exemption from $7,500 to $20,000. The exemption excludes all taxpayer-owned property within a county (except motor vehicles, trailers, and mobile homes) with a fair market value of $20,000 or less from taxation.
The other measures concern a property tax refund in Arizona, a personal property tax exemption in Georgia, the separation of classes of property for taxation in Wyoming, and property tax sales in Louisiana.
- Georgia Amendment 1 would amend the state constitution to allow a local option homestead property tax exemption and allow a county, municipality, or school system to opt out of the exemption.
- Arizona Proposition 312 would amend state law to allow property owners to apply for a property tax refund in certain circumstances. Taxpayers would be eligible for the refund if the city or locality in which the property is located does not enforce laws regarding illegal camping, loitering, obstructing public thoroughfares, panhandling, public urination or defecation, public consumption of alcoholic beverages, and possession or use of illegal substances.
- In Wyoming, a constitutional amendment would make residential real property a fourth, separate class of property and authorize the Legislature to create a subclass of residential property for owner-occupied primary residences. Residential real property could be assessed at a different rate from other property in the residential property class.
- On Dec. 7, Louisiana voters will decide on a constitutional amendment to remove certain property tax sale provisions from the state constitution and require the Legislature to address property tax sale provisions in state law instead. Currently, the state constitution allows the Legislature to postpone tax payments in cases of overflow, general conflagration, general crop destruction, or other public calamity. The amendment would change this to allow the Legislature to postpone property tax payments when the governor or a parish president declares an emergency under the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act.
As of Sept. 24, 160 statewide ballot measures have been certified in 41 states. An average of 161 measures were on the ballot in even years from 2010 to 2022. Voters in 41 states will decide on 147 ballot measures on Nov. 5, while Louisiana voters will decide on four on Dec. 7. Earlier this year, voters in five states decided on nine ballot measures, approving five and rejecting four.
Click on the link below to learn more about the measures that will be on your ballot.
Nine new deepfake bills enacted in California
Earlier this year, Ballotpedia launched its comprehensive AI Deepfake Legislation Tracker to help people know what’s happening—in real time—with deepfake legislation in all 50 states. The tracker provides historical context on deepfake legislation going back to 2019 and includes bills addressing political and election-related communications, pornographic and child sexual abuse material, fraud and extortion, and property rights.
Deepfakes are videos, images, or audio files generated or manipulated by artificial intelligence to realistically portray something that did not actually occur. Policy approaches vary as lawmakers and advocates balance concerns about deepfakes with First Amendment considerations and beneficial uses of the technology.
Sixty-seven of the 98 deepfake laws approved since 2019 were enacted this year.
In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed nine deepfake-related bills this month. These bills follow two enacted in 2022 and two enacted in 2019. As of Tuesday, five bills awaited his signature. These nine bills make California the state with the most deepfake bills enacted this year, with New Hampshire and Utah following with five bills each.
Three bills deal with political deepfakes, including one expanding restrictions on deceptive election communications in the days before and after an election and one requiring large online platforms to remove such content during those times.
Newsom said, “Safeguarding the integrity of elections is essential to democracy, and it’s critical that we ensure AI is not deployed to undermine the public’s trust through disinformation – especially in today’s fraught political climate. These measures will help to combat the harmful use of deepfakes in political ads and other content[.]” The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which says its mission is to “defend and sustain the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought,” said that the legislation “threatens satire, parody, and other First Amendment-protected speech.” At least one free-speech lawsuit has been filed in response.
Two bills deal with sexual deepfakes. One of those requires social media platforms to provide a way for users to report digitally altered, sexually explicit images or videos of an identifiable person (“sexually explicit digital identity theft”), to block the content from being viewed until the platform determines whether there is a reasonable basis, and if so, to remove the content.
Newsom also signed two bills dealing with actors and performers’ digital likenesses. Newsom said, “We continue to wade through uncharted territory when it comes to how AI and digital media is transforming the entertainment industry, but our North Star has always been to protect workers. This legislation ensures the industry can continue thriving while strengthening protections for workers and how their likeness can or cannot be used.”
Another bill requires certain generative AI providers to include a “latent disclosure in AI-generated image, video, audio content…regarding the provenance of the content.”
Deepfake legislation nationwide
The chart below shows the number of deepfake bills signed into law since 2019 by state trifecta status.
Since 2019, 19 states have enacted laws related to deepfakes used in political communications, such as campaign advertisements. In more than half of those states, the law applies to political materials distributed within a certain number of days before an election, and most include exceptions for materials containing a disclosure statement.
Since 2019, 30 states have enacted laws concerning the creation or distribution of deepfakes that depict explicit sexual acts or other sensitive content. Some of those laws specifically addressed the creation and distribution of child sexual abuse material, while others addressed the nonconsensual creation and distribution of adult intimate images.
The following chart shows the four most common topics of deepfake bills in 2024 by sponsor party.
Incumbent Kirsten Baesler and Jason Heitkamp are running in the nonpartisan general election for North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction
With 41 days to go until the Fall election, we’ll be bringing you coverage of the most compelling elections — the battlegrounds we expect to have a meaningful effect on the balance of power in governments or to be particularly competitive. You can catch our previous coverage of other battleground races here.
Today, we’re looking at the nonpartisan general election for North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction. North Dakota is one of 12 states that elects a state superintendent and one of four states, along with Montana, North Carolina, and Washington, where the office is up for election in 2024. Incumbent Kirsten Baesler and Jason Heitkamp are running. Both candidates are registered Republicans.
The Dickinson Press’ James B. Miller Jr. wrote the office has “a pivotal role responsible for overseeing North Dakota’s public education system” and is responsible for “setting educational standards, distributing funds, ensuring compliance with educational laws and advocating for educational improvements within the state legislature.”
Baesler’s experience and platform
Baesler earned two associate’s degrees from Bismarck State College, a bachelor’s degree in education from Minot State University, and a master’s degree in library and information technology from Valley City State University. She worked for 24 years in the Bismarck School District as an assistant, a teacher, a library specialist, and a vice principal.
Baesler was first elected in 2012 and won re-election with decreasing margins-of-victory in 2016 and 2020. In 2016, Baesler won against Joe Chiang 74.6%-24.8%, and in 2020, Baesler won against Brandt Dick 59.1%-39.9%.
Baesler says she is running for re-election to “continue working for our students and families, supporting our school teachers, and ensuring our taxpayers’ substantial investment in education is spent wisely.” Baesler is campaigning on her record in office and says she has “a proven track record of fighting to ensure that every family can choose the education opportunities their child needs.” Baesler is also campaigning on saving the state money and says she has cut costs by “reducing the number of employees at the Department of Public Instruction, eliminating the agency’s need to use leased space…while increasing the quality and efficiency of service to the public.”
Baesler says that since taking office, she has seen a “shift from our voters…being really deeply focused on the technical expertise of who this leader should be…there seems to be less desire of having a superintendent candidate who is experienced.” She says she will continue campaigning by “talk[ing] about my track record.”
Heitkamp’s experience and platform
Heitkamp earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from North Dakota State University, Fargo. He has worked as a farmer and as a truck driver.
Heitkamp is a former Republican state senator and cousin to former U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D). Heitkamp says he wants “to review the teacher retirement plan, bring transparency and work with budgets, review teacher pay, decrease administration costs and reevaluate interstate education programs.” Heitkamp is also campaigning to change the curriculum of state schools and says under his tenure, the curriculum would “involve…reading, writing, arithmetic, and civics.” Heitkamp is advocating for making the state pay for public schools instead of local governments, ending their reliance on a property tax. North Dakota Monitor’s Mary Steurer wrote that Heitkamp “doesn’t have the authority to change the state’s tax structure. But he’s hopeful the office will give him the sway needed to get it done.”
Heitkamp says the job is “like the sheriff…You don’t need a peace officer’s license to be sheriff—that’s a management job. This is a management job, also.” In a Facebook post, Heitkamp said, “The people are tired of failure…I have met the people, I have heard the people and I am up to the challenge.”