The League of Women Voters of Sacramento County, in accord with the state and national organizations, shares a single-minded mission – Making Democracy Work! LWVSC does not support or oppose candidates or political parties. However, it takes positions on local ballot measures significant to our community and speaks out on policy issues informed by studies.

Accordingly, LWV California makes recommendations on statewide ballot propositions that, if passed, can affect all Californians.  “This year has been a doozy! After tireless, comprehensive analysis, the state League has taken positions on 8 of 10 questions voters will find on their November 2004 ballot” said Charlene Jones, Co-President of the Sacramento County League.

California LWV recommendations:

Make Your Voice Count: Vote with the League this November – League of Women Voters of California (lwvc.org)

PROP 2: SCHOOL & COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACILITY BONDS – SUPPORT

Prop 2 would supplement local bond funds by authorizing $8.5 billion in state bonds for construction and modernization of K-12 schools and $1.5 billion for community colleges. All children in California deserve school facilities in good repair and equipped to provide them with a 21st century education. Research shows modernized school facilities correlate with better test scores, higher attendance, and lower suspension rates. There has been no new bond money for school facilities since 2016, and there is a massive need for modernization of old and construction of new facilities across the state.

PROP 3: FREEDOM TO MARRY  – SUPPORT

Prop 3 would enshrine marriage equality in the California Constitution. This upholds our state’s values of fairness, equality and non-discrimination, and ensures permanent protection for the rights of all individuals to marry the person they love, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or race. Constitutional provisions offer safeguards against discriminatory laws and political shifts.

PROP 4: CLIMATE PROTECTION PROJECT BONDS – SUPPORT

Bonds for “safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, and protecting communities and natural lands from climate risks” would allow the state to borrow $10 billion for much-needed climate and environmental projects. Prop 4 is vital for mitigating escalating costs of climate change and safeguarding our state’s future. It will provide essential funding for projects that improve water quality and supply, protect against wildfires, and enhance resilience of our natural ecosystems. It will also allocate at least 40% of funding to low-income communities which are vulnerable to a heightened risk to impacts of climate change and lack adequate resources to cope, adapt to or recover from such impacts.

PROP 5: LOWER VOTING THRESHOLD ON LOCAL HOUSING & INFRASTRUCTURE BONDS – SUPPORT

This Constitutional amendment would reduce the voting margin necessary to approve local bonds and taxes for affordable housing, transportation, parks and other public infrastructure, from 66.7% to 55%. It is essential to eliminate the supermajority vote requirement that stifles progress by making it extremely difficult to secure necessary funding for vital projects. Lowering the voting threshold to 55% enhances democratic participation and allows communities to address urgent housing shortages and infrastructure needs more effectively.

PROP 6: END SLAVERY IN CALIFORNIA ACT – SUPPORT

Prop 6 is long overdue as both a moral imperative and practical necessity. It addresses a profound injustice embedded in the state’s constitution, which permits involuntary servitude as a punishment for crime. This archaic exception allows for modern-day slavery. Due to persistently large racial disparities in arrest and sentencing, this disproportionately impacts Black and brown communities and perpetuates systemic racial and economic inequalities. Abolishing this supports rehabilitation and reintegration of incarcerated people by allowing them to choose educational and rehabilitative programs over forced labor.

PROP 32: RAISES MINIMUM WAGE TO $18 – SUPPORT

California has a high cost of living and our current $16 minimum wage is well below the estimated living wage needed to support a household’s basic needs. It would raise the minimum wage employers with 26 or more employees to $18 per hour in 2025 and 2026. For businesses that employ 25 or fewer people the minimum wage would be $17 an hour in 2025 and $18 per hour in 2026. Prop 32 pauses inflation adjustments until 2027, giving businesses and our economy time to adjust to the levels. After that, the minimum wage would go up each year based on inflation.

PROP 33: EXPANDS LOCAL AUTHORITY TO ENACT RENT CONTROL ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY – NEUTRAL

The League supports efforts to help resolve California’s housing crisis. Rent control policies are one strategy to address housing challenges, offer tenant protections, and prevent displacement. Rent control may be an effective short-term solution but studies also suggest that its longer-term impact may discourage construction of new housing units, as developers could find it less profitable to build rental units if rent is controlled by law. This could stifle the building of high-density, more affordable housing. Because there are benefits and drawbacks, the LWVC has chosen to be neutral.

PROP 34: RESTRICTS SPENDING BY HEALTH CARE PROVIDERSMEETING SPECIFIED CRITERIA – NO POSITION

When the LWVC has no organizational position relevant to a ballot measure, it offers no analysis.

PROP 35: PERMANENT FUNDING FOR MEDI-CAL HEALTH CARE SERVICES – OPPOSE

Prop 35 is well-meaning but misguided when trying to provide steady funding for Medi-Cal and improve reimbursement rates for medical providers. It would change the temporary tax that helps fund Medi-Cal to a permanent tax on Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) and require the tax proceeds be used to support only Medi-Cal and other health programs – making that money unavailable for other priorities and difficult to respond to possible Medi-Cal changes mandated by the federal government. The League is generally opposed to “ballot-box budgeting,” which limits the legislature’s flexibility to make budgetary decisions and adjust priorities based on emerging and essential needs.

PROP 36: INCREASE PENALTIES FOR THEFT AND DRUG TRAFFICKING – OPPOSE

Prop 36 would reverse advances aimed at reducing mass incarceration and promoting rehabilitation. It would impose stricter sentencing laws that disproportionately impact people of color and those with low-income, exacerbating existing racial and socioeconomic disparities in the criminal justice system. Harsher sentencing for minor offenses, like drug possession and retail theft, would take us back to the days of unconstitutionally overcrowded prisons. By shifting money from treatment and rehabilitation to prisons, it would undermine programs that reduce recidivism and support reintegration into society. Increased incarceration rates will lead to higher costs for taxpayers without improving public safety.