Free Republic

Propositions that are on the November 4, 2008 General Election Ballot* Bond MeasureProposition 1 SB 1856 (Chapter 697, 2002). Costa. Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century.** **Note: The Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century was originally scheduled to appear on the November 2, 2004, General Election ballot. Subsequently, Senate Bill 1169, Chapter 71, Statutes of 2004, provided that it appear on the November 7, 2006, General Election ballot. However, most recently, Assembly Bill 713, Chapter 44, Statutes of 2006, provides for the submission of this Act on the November...

Changes since the last update: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1310. (07-0081) Nonviolent Offenders. Sentencing, Parole and Rehabilitation. Statute. Qualified for the November 4, 2008 General Election 1326. (07-0094, Amdt. #1S) Criminal Penalties and Laws. Public Safety Funding. Statute. Qualified for the November 4, 2008 General Election 1304. (07-0066, Amdt. #1S) Renewable Energy. Statute. Qualified for the November 4, 2008 General Election 1298. (07-0068) Limit on Marriage. Constitutional Amendment. Qualified for the November 4, 2008 General Election Propositions that are on the November 4, 2008 General Election Ballot Bond MeasureSB 1856 (Chapter 697, 2002). Costa. Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the...

Coulda been worse. With mega-majority control by the Democrats of the House, Senate, and Governor's mansion, it's critical to highlight the good, not just the bad: * The legislative jihad against the initiative process totally imploded thanks to all of us working together. Bills that would have shut down the signature gathering process were clearly illegal, unconstitutional, and aimed at endangering citizens -- that's why the Democrats pushed so hard for their approval. But six weeks on non-stop emails, phone calls, faxes, and letters from all of you -- and scathing editorials and columns in every newspaper -- successfully beat...

>Nebraska State Senator DiAnna Schimek's 20-year legislative career is nearly over. She feels victimized, no doubt, by the voter-enacted term limits that make this her final year in power. Still, Senator Schimek hopes to go out with her boots on, firing one final shotgun blast to maim or kill the initiative process she has long abhorred. You see, it was only through the voter initiative that Nebraskans passed term limits . . . three times. Yup. It took three petition drives and three votes of the people. Of course, term limits passed overwhelmingly each time. But a charmed third initiative...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2007 – The Army’s new “quick-ship” bonus program is showing success in getting prospective recruits to enlist and is expected to help the Army make its end-of-year recruiting goal, the Army’s recruiting chief told Pentagon reporters today. Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, commander of U.S. Army Recruiting Command, credited the $20,000 quick-ship bonus with helping to motivate would-be soldiers who were “on the fence” into joining the ranks. The program was introduced in late July to provide a financial incentive for recruits willing to ship off quickly to basic training. In August alone, 200 recruits who were...

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2007 – The $1.725 billion appropriation committed to improving Iraq’s oil sector has had a major impact in building or restoring the country’s crude oil, natural gas and cooking fuel capacity, a senior official in Baghdad reported. Navy Capt. Richard D. Fritzley, director of the oil sector for the Army Corps of Engineers’ Gulf Region Division, told reporters during a May 19 roundtable session the funds committed to oil and gas production are paying off. The program’s goal, he said, is to repair and rebuild existing oil systems and components throughout the country and to restore...

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called Wednesday for tax-free learning savings accounts for every student in the country as part of an ambitious package of anti-poverty initiatives developed by a mayors task force he chaired. The plan was to be formally unveiled Thursday at the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, but Villaraigosa gave a preview during a speech at the National Press Club. "This is a downpayment on America's future we can no longer afford to postpone," said Villaraigosa. The main points of the plan included: -A tax-free learning account for every student, with the government chipping...

Organizations controlled by Howard Rich, a Manhattan real estate investor with a longstanding interest in libertarian causes, have funneled more than $7.3 million into ballot initiative campaigns in 12 states, according to an analysis by The Oregonian newspaper in Portland. Most of the Rich groups' money is for state spending caps and property rights measures in the West and Midwest, led by $2.3 million to fund a now-derailed effort to get both causes on the ballot in Missouri. Next come California, with $1.5 million for a campaign to prohibit government from condemning property for private use, and Oregon, with $1.1...

Thirteen propositions that have qualified for the Nov. 7 ballot ask voters to authorize billions of dollars in bond issues and new taxes, creating political land mines for the candidates for governor, especially Democrat Phil Angelides. The cumulative weight of the measures could make it more difficult for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sell his ambitious package of public-works bonds. In the June primary election, voters decisively rejected a seemingly routine library bond issue whose price tag was a tiny fraction of what the Republican governor is promoting. The proposed tax increases on the November ballot complicate life for Angelides, the...

Federal challenges to English-only initiative petitions are roiling election officials across the state and have thrown into doubt a handful of citizen-spawned ballot issues. The question is whether petitions circulated for signatures to qualify initiatives and referendums for the ballot must be translated for voters who speak another language. California began providing Spanish-language ballots statewide in 2002, and local jurisdictions also provide multilingual election materials. But petitions, which are written by ordinary people hoping to change laws from the grass-roots level, are often available in English only. Federal judges have disagreed on the question, resulting in disruptions to elections in...

For those of you who have been wondering where I have been. The following press release from my boss will explain it all… LESLIE PROPOSES GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OF FAITH-BASED AND COMMUNITY INITIATIVES AB 2704 will help California Non-Profits help Californians Read More... Craig DeLuz Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense... www.craigdeluz.com

After voters resoundingly rejected the entire special-election ballot in November, California's thriving initiative industry has fallen on hard times, at least momentarily. Only one citizen initiative will be on the June 6 primary-election ballot – actor-director Rob Reiner's universal preschool measure. But dozens of initiatives aimed at the ballot this fall are in the preliminary approval stages. “I think there was some fatigue among donors and everybody else after the November ballot,” said Dave Gilliard, a Republican political consultant active in ballot proposition campaigns. “I don't think it's a long-term trend.” Seventy initiatives have been approved for circulation for the...

As the California Legislature proves itself to be more and more irrelevant, liberals have decided to take their tax and spend agenda to the ballot box. Unfortunately, recent history has proven that voters are willing to approve increased government spending as long as they believe that someone else is footing the bill. Read More... Craig DeLuz Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense... www.craigdeluz.com

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may have forsaken ballot initiatives for the near future, but lawmakers and advocacy groups are moving forward with new proposals to raise taxes on cigarettes and the wealthy, keep sex offenders off the streets, increase spending on preschools and healthcare and forever ban same-sex marriage. Schwarzenegger interpreted the rejection of all eight measures in this month's special election as a sign that California voters want lawmakers to solve the state's problems by themselves. But advocates from across the political spectrum — including several Republican state legislators — say they are preparing initiatives for next year...

Come tomorrow night, Arnold Schwarzenegger might be wishing he stuck to movie stardom and real estate barony rather than trying to save California from itself—wishing instead that he were perhaps lounging on the French Riviera with fellow Europhiles such as Johnny Depp and Gweneth Paltrow in salons where the conversations inevitably come around to trashing President Bush and those American boorish boobs that voted for him. But instead he’s spending his days being trashed by California’s myriad special interests: fireman, teachers, nurses, cops, public employee unions, city, county and statewide elected officials, trial lawyers, illegal alien activists and the vast...

Rush Limbaugh has a penchant for putting his finger on the driving forces and central themes in contemporary American politics. And once again he's nailed it. I'm speaking of Mr. Limbaugh's repeated assertions of late that the Democrat Party has suffered a series of setbacks because they simply lack positive ideas on how to improve the lives of Americans. Instead, the Democrats have become the anti-party – being against anything proposed or advanced by President Bush or any other Republican politicians. It doesn't matter whether the dateline is Washington, D.C., or rural America – the party of Roosevelt and Kennedy...

NO side leads YES side on all four of the propositions backed by Governor Schwarzenegger.

SACRAMENTO - As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger struggles to make his case for reform measures on the Nov. 8 special-election ballot, he and his opponents have stepped up their battle for the state's Latino voters. The governor taped a town-hall forum on Spanish-language Univision that aired statewide over the weekend, even as opponents launched their first Spanish-language TV ads featuring Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attacking the governor's proposals. The high-profile events are just the latest campaign efforts aimed at courting the 2 million Latinos registered to vote in California, accounting for 14 percent of the statewide electorate. "We've been on the air...

Gay Rights, Teen Abortion Among Issues Facing Voters in Ballot Measures in Seven States As is often the case, California has the most intriguing mix of propositions including four backed by Schwarzenegger, the Republican governor, to curb the power of the Democratic-controlled Legislature and the state's public employee unions. Another measure, notable in a state with liberal leanings, would require parents to be notified when a minor seeks an abortion. Texas voters are expected to approve a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriages a step already taken in 18 other states. In Maine, a conservative alliance is urging voters to...

A Public Policy Institute of California polls shows none of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's initiatives on the Nov. 8 special election ballot with majority support. The poll also found voters also dissatisfied with the job performance of the governor, the state Legislature and President Bush. All results are from the sampling of likely voters. _ Proposition 73, the parental notification initiative, had support of 42 percent of likely voters but was opposed by 48 percent. _ Proposition 74, the teacher tenure initiative, was supported by 46 percent of likely voters and opposed by 48 percent. _ Proposition 75, the union dues...