# Ballot Props in your state **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 6, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134 "2012-11-06T20:19:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/21 "2012-11-06T21:18:43Z")
> [@markdash](#): > > California: > > Prop 30 - Tax on income over $250k to fund education > Prop 31 - Establishes 2-year state budget, shifts money from state to local governments > Prop 32 - Restrictions on political donations by unions/corporations (but not Super PACs) > Prop 33 - Allows auto insurance companies to increase rates on people not previously insured > Prop 34 - Replaces death penalty with life + no parole > Prop 35 - Increases sentences for human trafficking > Prop 36 - Adjusts “three strikes law” to apply only to violent or serious offenders > Prop 37 - Requires labeling of GMO food > Prop 38 - Increase taxes to fund education (taxes applied to incomes above $17k) > Prop 39 - Requires multistate businesses to pay income taxes to CA based on % of sales in CA > Prop 40 - Approval of state senate districts drawn by the independent redistricting commission > > Here in California, we think that our lawmakers are doing such a bad job that we’ve taken it upon ourselves to do their job for them. :rolleyes: Jesus, you guys don’t mess around, do you? ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/22 "2012-11-06T21:22:58Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Well put. Nothing is getting done in the govt due to voting along party lines and the majorities, so anyone who wants to get something done will run it directly to the voters. Actually, we’ve tied the hands of our legislators through our fetish for propositions (most prominently Prop 13) which make it extremely difficult to raise enough money for the programs we all want. I don’t believe California legislators are somehow more incompetent than legislators in other states, it’s just that their degree of difficulty is way higher. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/23 "2012-11-06T21:23:01Z")
MD has a few not interesting constitutional amendments about judges being admitted to the bar. More interestingly, we have: \*Dream Act - allow illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition. \*Civil Marriage Protection - for marriage equality \*Expand Gambling - I think it’s specifically aimed at a proposed casino in the DC area. I voted for the first two, but against gambling. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/24 "2012-11-06T21:40:51Z")
Ohio just has two. Issue 1 is on convening a constitutional convention; it’s held every 20 years and has never passed. I voted yes because it would cause untold chaos politically. Issue 2 is on changing the redistricting process. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/25 "2012-11-06T22:14:58Z")
Florida’s many many Constitutional Amendments: Amendment 1 : Health Care Services - Allows Florida to back out of the PPACA Amendment 2: Veteran’s Property Tax Discount - allow for property tax discounts for disabled veterans. Amendment 3: State Revenue Limitation - replaces the existing state revenue limits with a new limitation based on inflation and population changes. Amendment 4: Property tax limitations; property value decline; reduction for non-homesteaded assessment increases; delay of scheduled repeal - amend commercial and non-homestead property taxes. Amendment 5: State Courts - stipulates that all appointments to the Florida Supreme Court be subject to confirmation by the senate. The GOP-controlled state legislature is attempting to recall 3 non-conservative justices from the FLSC and this is seen as a way for them to maintain complete power over the Florida judiciary. Amendment 6: Prohibition on Public Funding of Abortions; Construction of Abortion Rights - prohibits public funding for abortion blah blah rape and incest, but also ensures that the state cannot create broader abortion rights under the privacy provision of the constitution. Amendment 7: This proposal was known as Amendment 7 until a legal challenge by opponents led to the rewriting of some of the ballot language and its reinstatement on the ballot as Amendment 8. This is the reason there is no Amendment 7 on the 2012 ballot. Amendment 8: Religious Freedom - This repeals a restriction to now allow use of public funding for religious purposes. Amendment 9: Homestead Property Tax Exemption for Surviving Spouse of Military Veteran or First Responder - lower property taxes for the spouses of military veterans and first responders killed in service Amendment 10: Tangible Personal Property Tax Exemption - provides an exemption from ad valorem taxes levied by local governments on tangible personal property with a value between $25,000 and $50,000. Amendment 11: Additional Homestead Exemption; Low-Income Seniors Who Maintain Long-Term Residency on Property; Equal to Assessed Value - allows seniors over 65 to utilize the homestead exemption for property tax valuation. Amendment 12: Appointment of Student Body President to Board of Governors of the State University System - changes the way the student representative to the Board of Governors is chosen. I voted no on all. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/26 "2012-11-06T22:30:39Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > 6 is a ridiculously specific thing. The Rich guy who owns the existing to-Canada bridge and the state are fighting over who gets to build the new one. I thought we had bamboozled Ontario into paying for t anyway ;). Pretty sure the feds are picking up the tab, or most of it, but I believe the deal is they get all the toll money until the thing is paid for. I think if Maroun succeeds in buying his amendment we should expropriate the east half of his bridge. Kind of ridiculous that the single most important piece of transportation infrastructure on the continent is privately owned, and by someone who won’t let the two interested sovereign nations build some redundancy. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/27 "2012-11-06T22:48:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Lord Feldon** : > > Ohio just has two. Issue 1 is on convening a constitutional convention; it’s held every 20 years and has never passed. I voted yes because it would cause untold chaos politically. Issue 2 is on changing the redistricting process. I voted against the constitutional convention, because I couldn’t seem to find anyone who thought it was a good idea. For the redistricting one, I also voted no, because the way it’s structured is unstable: It’d have a strong tendency to turn small majorities into large majorities, and the “independent” commission would actually be _required_ to gerrymander the heck out of the districts. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/28 "2012-11-06T22:50:04Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Well put. Nothing is getting done in the govt due to voting along party lines and the majorities, so anyone who wants to get something done will run it directly to the voters. By contrast here in Pennsylvania referenda are freakishly rare. They’re limited to constitutional amendments (which must be approved by 2 seperate legislatures w/ a general election inbetween them before getting to the voters). I think I may’ve voted on a tax bond once. Only the General Assembly can put anything before the voters, and they never do unless they absolutely have to. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/29 "2012-11-06T22:53:40Z")
Colorado has an inside baseball question about the state personnel system that Republicans and Democrats both favor, a campaign spending limits proposal, and legalizing marijuana (we already have medical marijuana.) I voted yes on all three. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/30 "2012-11-06T23:17:21Z")
> [@markdash](#): > > California: > > Prop 30 - Tax on income over $250k to fund education > Prop 31 - Establishes 2-year state budget, shifts money from state to local governments > Prop 32 - Restrictions on political donations by unions/corporations (but not Super PACs) > Prop 33 - Allows auto insurance companies to increase rates on people not previously insured > Prop 34 - Replaces death penalty with life + no parole > Prop 35 - Increases sentences for human trafficking > Prop 36 - Adjusts “three strikes law” to apply only to violent or serious offenders > Prop 37 - Requires labeling of GMO food > Prop 38 - Increase taxes to fund education (taxes applied to incomes above $17k) > Prop 39 - Requires multistate businesses to pay income taxes to CA based on % of sales in CA > Prop 40 - Approval of state senate districts drawn by the independent redistricting commission > > Here in California, we think that our lawmakers are doing such a bad job that we’ve taken it upon ourselves to do their job for them. :rolleyes: Yes…unfortunately, we’ve collectively proven ourselves as inept as they are. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/31 "2012-11-06T23:20:45Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > MO didn’t have too many: > … > > C - No Obamacare exchange unless the legislature or voters approve it. As a third-generation Missourian, allow me to state unequivocally that Missourians are dumbasses. Even [former Majority Leader Bill freakin’ Frist is trying to talk sense into these buffoons](http://www.winningwordsproject.com/retired_republican_proves_currently_serving_republicans_are_lying_to_you_about_the_ppa) to get them to set up their state exchanges. > [@snowthx](#): > > 32 if approved will ban corporate and union contributions to political candidates. No it won’t. It’s FILLED with loopholes because its only purpose is to silence the Unions in political races. Fuck that noise. We have a titillating one in Los Angeles County. Seems some self-righteous jerk wants to force the porn industry to use condoms, and waste my tax money sending health inspectors in to porn shoots to ensure compliance. It’s cloaked under the guise of workplace safety, but it’s just more government interference in women’s hoohas, so I voted NO. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/32 "2012-11-07T13:15:07Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Here are Michigan’s > > Proposal 1: Referendum on the Emergency Manager Law > Proposal 2: The ‘Collective Bargaining’ Amendment > Proposal 3: ‘25 x 25’ Renewable Energy Standard > Proposal 4: The Unionization of Home-Based Caregivers > Proposal 5: The Two-Thirds Majority Tax Limitation > Proposal 6: The International Bridge/Tunnel Voting Requirement Well they all go down, including 1 which was a bit of a surprise.It’ll be interesting to see if Detroit can come up with something to avoid Bankruptcy this time. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/33 "2012-11-07T13:27:30Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Pretty sure the feds are picking up the tab, or most of it, but I believe the deal is they get all the toll money until the thing is paid for. I think if Maroun succeeds in buying his amendment we should expropriate the east half of his bridge. Kind of ridiculous that the single most important piece of transportation infrastructure on the continent is privately owned, and by someone who won’t let the two interested sovereign nations build some redundancy. Maroun is a first class putz. I’d like to see both nations remove the access to his private bridge once the new one is in place. I, for one, am quite grateful to our Canadian friends for fronting the money for it. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/34 "2012-11-07T14:38:11Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Seems some self-righteous jerk wants to force the porn industry to use condoms, and waste my tax money sending health inspectors in to porn shoots to ensure compliance. It’s cloaked under the guise of workplace safety, but it’s just more government interference in women’s hoohas, so I voted NO. The government will intrude wherever it is not wanted and it is the duty of every patriotic citizen to reject public interference into private property. If the fervent masturbators to pornography desired that the slatterns engaged in it were to use contraceptives, the invisible hand of the free market would have sheathed every turgid cock. If the AIDS Healthcare Foundation apparently want to play nanny, they can roleplay in their own time. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/35 "2012-11-07T14:59:58Z")
The Results: > [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > NO - Amendment 1 : Health Care Services - Allows Florida to back out of the PPACA > > YES - Amendment 2: Veteran’s Property Tax Discount - allow for property tax discounts for disabled veterans. > > NO - Amendment 3: State Revenue Limitation - replaces the existing state revenue limits with a new limitation based on inflation and population changes. > > NO - Amendment 4: Property tax limitations; property value decline; reduction for non-homesteaded assessment increases; delay of scheduled repeal - amend commercial and non-homestead property taxes. > > NO - Amendment 5: State Courts - stipulates that all appointments to the Florida Supreme Court be subject to confirmation by the senate. The GOP-controlled state legislature is attempting to recall 3 non-conservative justices from the FLSC and this is seen as a way for them to maintain complete power over the Florida judiciary. > > NO - Amendment 6: Prohibition on Public Funding of Abortions; Construction of Abortion Rights - prohibits public funding for abortion blah blah rape and incest, but also ensures that the state cannot create broader abortion rights under the privacy provision of the constitution. > > Amendment 7: This proposal was known as Amendment 7 until a legal challenge by opponents led to the rewriting of some of the ballot language and its reinstatement on the ballot as Amendment 8. This is the reason there is no Amendment 7 on the 2012 ballot. > > NO - Amendment 8: Religious Freedom - This repeals a restriction to now allow use of public funding for religious purposes. > > YES - Amendment 9: Homestead Property Tax Exemption for Surviving Spouse of Military Veteran or First Responder - lower property taxes for the spouses of military veterans and first responders killed in service > > NO - Amendment 10: Tangible Personal Property Tax Exemption - provides an exemption from ad valorem taxes levied by local governments on tangible personal property with a value between $25,000 and $50,000. > > YES - Amendment 11: Additional Homestead Exemption; Low-Income Seniors Who Maintain Long-Term Residency on Property; Equal to Assessed Value - allows seniors over 65 to utilize the homestead exemption for property tax valuation. > > NO - Amendment 12: Appointment of Student Body President to Board of Governors of the State University System - changes the way the student representative to the Board of Governors is chosen. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/36 "2012-11-07T15:00:57Z")
Nothing in Pennsylvania. But we had enough problems… ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/37 "2012-11-07T15:46:33Z")
Prop #1 in Maine - Marriage Equality (with what was the clearest verbiage I’ve ever seen on a prop question: “Do you want to allow the State of Maine to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples?”) - Passed. I’m sure the signature collection process for a people’s-veto thing is already underway. I’m also sure that that will fail miserably. So … finally … gay marriage is legal in Maine, and will remain so. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/38 "2012-11-07T15:55:19Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > MD has a few not interesting constitutional amendments about judges being admitted to the bar. More interestingly, we have: > > \*Dream Act - allow illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition. > \*Civil Marriage Protection - for marriage equality > \*Expand Gambling - I think it’s specifically aimed at a proposed casino in the DC area. They all passed. The casino is likely going to be at National Harbor. Probably the most ideal place for a casino and it will be very isolated (it’s not very convenient to get there, currently at least), but I’d imagine it won’t take too long for others will pop up elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/39 "2012-11-07T16:07:06Z")
Here in Arizona we had an interesting proposition declaring the state sovereign and immune to all those annoying federal laws. It was almost certainly unconstitutional, but pushed for by the Tea Party anyway. It failed. By a lot. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134/40 "2012-11-07T16:09:33Z")
Massachusetts “right to repair” and medical marijuana both passed easily. Physician-assisted suicide was very close, but looks like it was defeated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ballot-props-in-your-state/640134.md?page=3)