Category: Ballot measures

  • Albuquerque Public Schools district voters defeat all three tax and bond measures in Tuesday’s special election

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    Albuquerque Public Schools district voters in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, defeated three school funding measures on February 5, 2019. With 99 percent of precincts reporting on election night, a capital improvements property tax received 36 percent approval, while a property tax for school buildings received 31 percent approval, and a bond issue for capital and…

  • New Jersey governor signs $15 minimum wage legislation

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    New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, signed legislation to increase the state’s minimum wage over five years, reaching $15 in 2024. Thereafter, the minimum wage will be tacked to increases in the Consumer Price Index. New Jersey is the fourth state, following California, Massachusetts, and New York, to enact $15 minimum wage legislation.  …

  • Four 2019 initiative signature deadlines passed, three remain

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    Four signature submission deadlines for statewide ballot initiatives targeting the 2019 ballot have passed, and three remain.   Ballot initiatives are proposals for new laws or constitutional amendments put on the ballot through citizen signature petition drives. Of the 26 states with a process for citizen-initiated measures, four allow for ballot initiatives or veto referendums…

  • Voters to decide in May whether to make Denver the first U.S. city to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms

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    Denver voters will decide a citizen initiative to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms at the election on May 7, 2019. The initiative would make the enforcement of any criminal laws regarding the possession and use of psilocybin mushrooms by anyone 21 years old or older the lowest law enforcement priority of the city. It would also prohibit…

  • Washington Legislature unanimously passes bill to amend police use of deadly force initiative, I-940

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    House Bill 1064 to amend Washington I-940 was introduced on December 17, 2018. It passed unanimously in the House on January 24 and unanimously in the Senate on January 30, 2019, sending it to the desk of Gov. Jay Inslee (D) for his signature.   Initiative 940 was designed to create a legally-defined good faith…

  • How much did the signature drives for California’s three 2020 citizen-initiated measures cost?

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    As of February 1, 2019, three citizen-initiated statewide ballot measures have qualified for the election on November 3, 2020, in California. The signature drives for the ballot initiatives cost between $2.05 million and $3.49 million.   Campaigns behind ballot initiatives often hire companies that specialize in signature drives to circulate petitions. Since Ballotpedia began tracking…

  • Missouri could have the 10th largest city in the U.S. if voters decide a ballot initiative to merge St. Louis city and St. Louis County

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    In 2020, voters across Missouri could decide a ballot initiative to consolidate St. Louis city and St. Louis County into a single political entity named The Metropolitan City of St. Louis. The new city would be the 10th largest city in the U.S., with a population around 1.3 million as of 2017. Residents of The…

  • Florida energy market initiative moves forward; still needs more than 687,000 signatures to qualify for 2020 ballot

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    The Florida Changes to Energy Market Initiative (Initiative #18-10) is headed to the state supreme court for a ballot language review after sponsors submitted over 79,000 valid preliminary signatures. Citizens for Energy Choices, the sponsors of the measure, call it the Florida Energy Choice Initiative. The measure would give customers “the right to choose their…

  • Colorado Proposition 111 limiting payday loan interest rates goes into effect February 1, 2019

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    Colorado Proposition 111, the Limits on Payday Loan Charges Initiative, was on the ballot in Colorado as a citizen-initiated state statute on November 6, 2018. It was approved by a vote of 77 percent to 23 percent. The measure limited the interest rate on short term loans—commonly known as payday loans—to a yearly rate of…

  • Los Angeles County vote-by-mail ballots sent February 5 for March 5 election

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    Five cities in Los Angeles County—Glendora, Huntington Park, Manhattan Beach, Signal Hill, and West Hollywood—will hold elections on March 5, 2019. Vote-by-mail ballots are scheduled to be mailed to voters on Tuesday, February 5. Registered voters may apply for a vote-by-mail ballot between February 5 and February 26. All ballots must be received by the…