Thursday, 28 March 2024

Curry: California Democratic Party’s ballot recommendations

The following are the California Democratic Party’s Nov. 6 ballot proposition recommendations.

PROPOSITION 1- YES

AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR VETERANS, FAMILIES AND SENIORS

Creates affordable housing for vets, working families, disabled, seniors, homeless – without raising taxes Will construct affordable housing for our veterans Prop. 1 builds and provides affordable housing for veterans, working families, and seniors.

PROPOSITION 2 YES

MENTAL HEALTH CARE, HOUSING TO END HOMELESSNESS

Delivers housing along with mental health services to alleviate chronic homelessness. Focuses on the most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness who are suffering from serious mental illness by building and providing the stable, supportive housing needed to help them heal, live with dignity and stay off the streets.

Homelessness and access to affordable housing are two of the state's biggest challenges today. This is precisely why we need BOTH Props

PROPOSITION 3 NEUTRAL

PROPOSITION 4 –YES

YES FOR CHILDREN’S HOSPITALS

Provides specialized care for 2 million seriously ill or injured kids a year, regardless of family income California’s 13 regional children’s hospitals provide specialized care to treat children and young adults up to age 21 who are suffering from serious and life-threatening diseases such as leukemia, sickle cell disease, cancer, and cystic fibrosis. The hospitals handle more than 2 million visits each year, regardless of a family’s income or ability to pay. The Children’s Hospital Bond of 2018 provides $1.5 billion over 15 years to support this critical, lifesaving care.

PROPOSITION 5 – NO

STOP $1 BILLION IN CUTS TO SCHOOLS AND SERVICES

Takes up to $2 billion per year from schools and local services to give a tax advantage to wealthy property owners. The nonpartisan California Legislative Analyst says Prop. 5 will cause massive revenue losses at the local level. That’s why firefighters, teachers, and nurses all say No on Prop. 5. This initiative will result in reductions to critical public services including fire protection, police protection, and health care. Public school funding comes primarily from local property taxes. Prop. 5 means less local revenue for our public schools. “Fighting the wildfires that have plagued our communities in the past few years requires more—not less—local resources. We just can’t afford Prop. 5,” says Brian Rice, President of California Professional Firefighters.

PROPOSITION 6 – NO

STOP THE ATTACK ON ROAD AND BRIDGE SAFETY

Lake County will lose $45 million dollars in infrastructure projects. The California Professional Firefighters, California Association of Highway Patrolmen, American Society of Civil Engineers, business, local government, labor, environmentalists and first responders urge NO on Prop 6 because it will stop critical transportation projects and jeopardize the safety of our bridges and roads. Prop 6 eliminates more than $5 billion annually in existing transportation funds and stops funding for more than 6,500 bridge and road safety, transportation and public transit improvement projects currently underway throughout California.

PROPOSITION 7 – YES

REPEAL DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME

Saves lives and money by stopping dangerous time changes Proposition 7 is a required step in the process to stop the biannual time changes that harm health and safety of workers and their families. The federal government and states dabbled in biannual time changes as early as the First World War, when President Woodrow Wilson promoted the practice to mimic a trend among European countries to conserve fuel. Studies consistently show that no significant fuel conservation occurs as a result of the time change between daylight saving time and standard time.

PROPOSITION 8 – YES

HOLD DIALYSIS CORPORATIONS ACCOUNTABLE

Requires dialysis clinics to improve patient care, update equipment and provide safe and clean facilities. California’s largest dialysis corporations make nearly $4 billion in profits from their dialysis operations in the United States, charging $150,000 a year for some patients. That’s a 350 percent markup and drives up healthcare prices for everyone in the state. Prop 8 limits what dialysis corporations can charge and requires them to refund excessive profits that aren’t spent on improving patient care. Despite nearly $4 billion in profits from their dialysis operations in the United States, the giant dialysis corporations don’t invest enough in improving patient care. Rather than spend their money on executives and investors, Prop 8 limits the corporations’ profits and encourages them to improve patient safety, staffing and conditions in the clinics.

PROPOSITION 9 –Eliminated from ballot due to unconstitutionality.

PROPOSITION 10 – YES

AFFORDABLE HOUSING ACT

Empowers local communities to limit skyrocketing rents. Across California, people are struggling to stay in their homes, as developers, landlords and Wall Street speculators are given free reign over our cities, quickly transforming stable neighborhoods into high priced markets at the expense of working-class communities. Teachers, nurses, long-term care workers and grocery clerks are being forced to commute far from their place of work just to live in housing they can afford. The less fortunate are forced to sleep on couches, in cars or can be seen on our streets. Prop 10 takes a very limited approach to addressing one aspect of our housing affordability crisis. By repealing the failed and outdated Costa-Hawkins law, it simply removes the constraints that law imposed on local governments to limit skyrocketing rents and curb predatory housing practices. By passing Prop 10, local governments will be empowered to take urgent action to address the housing crisis on their terms, should their community need such action.

PROPOSITION 11- NO

OVERTIME FOR AMBULANCE DRIVERS

American Medical Response, a for-profit ambulance corporation that operates throughout California, has illegally withheld millions of dollars in pay to first responders and is now being taken to court by their employees. Rather than pay back the money owed to these first responders, the company is spending millions to put a deceptively titled initiative on the ballot that would allow the company to avoid paying back its workers.

PROPOSITION 12 – YES

PREVENT ANIMAL CRUELTY

A coalition of more than 500 California veterinarians and veterinary clinics, California family farms and animal shelters, farmworker organizations, food safety groups, and animal protection charities support Proposition 12. It will upgrade California's laws relating to the extreme confinement of farm animals. Would require cage-free housing and improve space requirements in California for three types of animals who are typically confined in tiny cages on factory farms: baby veal calves, mother pigs, and egg-laying hens. It would also ensure that veal, pork, and eggs sold in the state come from operations meeting these modest standards.

Becky Curry is vice chair of the Democratic Party of Lake County. She lives in Kelseyville, Calif.

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