In 2024, voters in Wyoming will decide on a constitutional amendment to add residential real property as a fourth, separate, class of property for property tax purposes. Under the amendment, the legislature would be authorized to create a subclass of residential property for owner-occupied primary residences, which could be assessed at a different rate from…
The Utah State Legislature referred three constitutional amendments to the ballot for Nov. 5, 2024, as of March 3. Two of the amendments concern education funding. One of the measures would increase the annual distribution for public education from the State School Fund from 4% to 5%. The amendment was passed unanimously in both chambers…
On Feb. 14, voters in Seattle, Washington, approved Initiative 135, a citizen-initiated measure to create the Seattle Social Housing Developer, a public development organization that will own, develop, and maintain what the initiative describes as social housing. As of Feb. 21, election results showed the initiative received 57.1% of the vote. According to Initiative 135,…
In 2024, Utah voters will decide on a constitutional amendment that would establish in the state constitution that every county in Utah must elect a sheriff to serve for four-year terms. Utah state law already mandates the election of county sheriffs, which means that this constitutional amendment would not alter the current procedures for selecting…
Elections for Tampa’s mayor and six of the seven city council members, as well as four charter amendments referred to the ballot by the city council, will be held on March 7. The charter amendments would: *provide that the mayor’s nominations for department heads and other city employees must be approved by four of the…
In Florida, a campaign supporting a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana, Smart and Safe Florida, has raised $20 million. Funding is from Trulieve Cannabis Corp., a marijuana business that operates in several states, including Florida. The campaign is collecting signatures to place the initiative on the ballot for Nov. 5, 2024. The initiative would legalize…
Voters in Oklahoma will decide on State Question 820, an initiative to legalize marijuana, on March 7, 2023. Voters in Ohio could decide on an initiative to legalize marijuana in Nov. 2023. Oklahomans for Sensible Marijuana Laws, which is leading the campaign in support of State Question 820, wanted the citizen-initiated measure on the ballot…
On Feb. 14, Seattle voters will decide on Initiative 135, an initiative to create the Seattle Social Housing Developer, a public development authority to own, develop, and maintain what the initiative describes as social housing. According to Initiative 135, this housing would provide publicly financed apartments that are “removed from market forces and speculation” and…
On Jan. 5, 2023, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled 3-2 that the state’s six-week abortion ban, known as the South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act, was unconstitutional. Signed in February 2021, the law banned abortion once cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks. The bill was blocked from taking effect…
The deadline to submit signatures for Initiatives to the Legislature in Washington (ITL) was Dec. 30, 2022. Initiatives to the Legislature is the name of indirect ballot initiatives in Washington. The Washington Secretary of State’s office confirmed to Ballotpedia on January 3 that signatures were not submitted for any of the 179 filed initiatives. If…