Author: Ryan Byrne
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California rent control initiative qualifies for the 2020 ballot
Californians will vote on a ballot initiative to expand the power of local governments to use rent control. Proponents have the option to withdraw the ballot initiative. In December, the campaign Homeowners and Tenants United filed 987,991 signatures for the ballot initiative. On February 3, a random sample of signatures projected that 75.9 percent of…
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Signatures filed for Maine ballot initiative to revoke certification of hydroelectric transmission project
Voters in Maine could decide a ballot initiative to revoke the certification of the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) transmission corridor, which was designed to cross about 145 miles in Maine, from the state’s border with Quebec to Lewiston, Maine, and transmit around 1,200 megawatts from hydroelectric plants in Quebec to Massachusetts. On February…
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Pennsylvania Legislature passes constitutional amendment to end primaries for lieutenant governor
The Pennsylvania State Legislature approved a constitutional amendment that would change how candidates for lieutenant governor are selected. In Pennsylvania, a political party’s candidates for governor and lieutenant governor are elected on a joint ticket at the general election. As of 2020, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run in separate primaries for their party’s…
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Over $6.29 million raised for California Proposition 13 (March 2020), a $15 billion education facilities bond measure
Committees surrounding California Proposition 13, a $15-billion education facilities bond measure that is on the ballot for March 3, 2020, filed their first periodic campaign finance reports on January 23, 2020. Of the $15 billion in bonds that Proposition 13 would authorize, $9 billion would be for preschool and K-12 schools, $4 billion would be…
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Signatures filed for North Slope oil tax initiative in Alaska
The campaign Vote Yes for Alaska’s Fair Share filed signatures for a ballot initiative to increases taxes on North Slope oil production fields. The taxes would apply to North Slope fields that have a lifetime output of at least 400 million barrels of oil and had a daily output of at least 40,000 barrels during…
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NJ voters to decide on expanding property tax deduction to peacetime veterans
On January 13, 2020, the New Jersey State Legislature passed a resolution placing a constitutional amendment related to veterans’ tax payments on the ballot for November 3, 2020. Both chambers of the New Jersey State Legislature passed ACR 253 in unanimous votes, excluding abstaining and absent members. The ballot measure would expand the state’s $250…
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Signatures filed for Alaska initiative that would enact ranked-choice voting, top-four primaries, and campaign finance changes
Signatures filed for Alaska initiative that would enact ranked-choice voting, top-four primaries, and campaign finance changes The campaign Alaskans for Better Elections filed 41,068 signatures on Thursday for a three-pronged ballot initiative to change the state’s election laws. At least 28,501 (69.4 percent) of the signatures submitted need to be valid for the ballot initiative…
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Signatures filed for indirect initiative to ban abortion procedure in Michigan
On December 23, 2019, the campaign Michigan Values Life filed 379,418 signatures for a ballot initiative to ban an abortion procedure. The ballot initiative defines the procedure as dismemberment abortion, which is also known as dilation and evacuation abortion. The ballot initiative would define dismemberment abortion as an abortion which uses an instrument, device,…
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Wisconsin’s April 7th Marsy’s Law ballot measure challenged in court
On December 18, 2019, the Wisconsin Justice Initiative, a nonprofit organization, filed litigation in the Dane County Circuit Court that challenges the Marsy’s Law Amendment, which is on the ballot for April 7, 2020. Marsy’s Law was designed as a type of constitutional bill of rights for crime victims. As of 2019, 13 states had…
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NJ voters will decide a constitutional amendment to legalization marijuana at the 2020 general election
On December 16, the New Jersey State Legislature passed a resolution placing a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana on the ballot for November 3, 2020. New Jersey would be the 12th state and the first Mid-Atlantic state to legalize marijuana. Gov. Phil Murphy (D) campaigned on marijuana legalization in the 2017 gubernatorial election. When Murphy…