7 California Propositions to Vote On by November 8
October 25, 2022
By Scott Steward
I take the time to look into the propositions each election for the sake of my now adult children, nieces and nephews. They are busy and/or are otherwise polite to thank me for the review. I used a variety of sources (Courage California and the Los Angeles Progressive Voter Guide to name two) in coming up with the following up or down votes for the 7 propositions on the ballot.
Prop 1 – Reproductive Freedom - YES. The opponents to Prop 1 are wrong biblically, morally and biologically. Prop 1 puts in place a California state amendment establishing women's reproductive rights.
Prop 26 - Tribal In-Person Sports Betting, soft YES. Sports betting revenue is here to stay, what we don't want is an out-of-state rip-off. Tribal gaming (gambling) has been a reasonable compromise and the Tribes have been great to our communities. 26 is not perfect in that their remain inequities as to which tribes are recognized and benefit.
It is inevitable that tech-gambling will grow. We need good partners to fend off the worst that tech-gambling could be. We are better off with our local Tribal Nations and venues hosting locally regulated gambling.
Prop 27 - Corporate Online Sports Betting - NO. For the reasons above and because of the false statement about 27 having anything to do with solving homelessness. The housing funding is a ruse to hide the meager 10% CA gambling revenue tax that would become law if Prop 27 passed. The same companies that sponsor CA Prop 27 pay NY a 51% tax on gambling revenues.
FanDuel, DraftKings, and Penn Interactive Ventures (the money behind Prop 27) are east coast insidious money grabbers made possible by our own Supreme Court. In May of 2018, the Court legalized sports gambling by striking down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act increasing the influence of money on sports and further eroding the public trust.
The best we can do is fight fire with fire and make sure our good partners in gaming, our Tribal Nations and a few grandfathered race tracks, are where gambling is well regulated (Yes on 26) and fairly taxed for the benefit of Californians.
Proposition 28 – Arts & Music School Funding - Yes. This proposition is necessary because of the propensity to cut, music, studio art and performing arts from the curriculum when budgets get tight. Proposition 28 is about offering excellence to all students.
Prop 29 Dialysis Regulation. Yes. Next to child birth and maternity care our nation pays more for dialysis than any other single category of care. Genetic disposition to losing kidney function after prolonged ingestion of lots of simple carbs, sugar and inactivity can kill you. DaVita Dialysis and Fresenius are 80% of the treatment market and they get a fixed reimbursement for most dialysis procedures (dialysis patients can need multiple procedures a week to stay alive). The industry is trying to squeeze out costs by reducing the staff compensation and deprofessionalize the care provided. Yes will help prevent profiteering and help patients, that are not as "profitable" for the monopolists, get the care they need.
Prop 30 Income Tax to Fund Electric Vehicles, Yes. After much consideration as to what might be the unintended consequences of taxing top revenue households for accelerated electrification of transpiration (transportation being the single biggest greenhouse gas contributor), my fellow energy policy wonks, and I, vote yes on 30. Prop 30 does not effect the current school-funding formula and it is not a significant cost avoidance for ride share company Lyft (Courage California). We need to accelerate climate action and the very top revenue households will benefit from the electrical infrastructure and equity improvement.
Prop 31 – Ban on Flavored Tobacco - Yes. Candy coated nicotine makes children addicts. We need to protect our children
I agree with you on all of the above except your stance on Prop. 29. You call it "deprofessionalization" but that's just ignorant. People throughout the world have home dialysis machines that they use every day. Do they need a physician standing by all night while they sleep to keep them safe? Nonsense! Requiring this ups the overall costs and will hurt kidney patients, not help them.
Posted by: Crilly Butler | October 25, 2022 at 09:29 PM
Al' Corner Voter Guide:
1. I won't vote for anything that gets renumbered as Prop. 1. We've had too many Prop 1's. Renumber it Prop. 32 and I'll vote for it. We're #1! We're #1! Not.
26. Gambling is bad
27. Gambling is bad
28. I don't vote for anything that is "for the children". They can buy their own damn tubas.
29. Clearly every individual aspect of medical reimbursement should be voted on by the voters. Vote yes and encourage more of this.
30. "After much consideration as to what might be the unintended consequences of taxing top revenue households for accelerated electrification of transpiration" - Y'know for billions of years plants have done a fine job pumping water to their leaves *without* electric pumps. The 'unintended consequences' is this would cost billions, use untold amounts of electricity, and make plants into wimps. Vote no.
31. I don't vote for anything that is "for the children". They are smart enough to figure out these flavors are a trap. Rainbow fentanyl: fight the real enemy !
Posted by: Alan C. Miller | October 25, 2022 at 09:54 PM
Even though I would like to vote on sports games I lean more with Alan's assessment here than I do with Scott Steward's. After all Scott said he used a variety of sources which included "Courage California and the Los Angeles Progressive Voter Guide". That alone tells me everything I need to know to not vote for what he suggests.
Posted by: Keith | October 26, 2022 at 05:42 AM
I totally missed that transpiration proposition. Thanks for the tip, Al!
Posted by: darell | October 27, 2022 at 01:33 PM
I agree gambling is not a great industry. Let's get rid of the tax on the poor - otherwise called the State Lottery. Insted let's tax reasonably and progressively to make up the small amount that the Lottery collects mostly from people who have the least amount of money.
More people that should not bet away their earings end up getting hurt by the avaialbility of gambling, but these folks will find a way and out of state and illeagal gambling will be happy to supply them their fix. The Tribes at least keep things in bounds (as much as that is possible) and work with California to regulate and channel the revenues.
Posted by: Scott Steward | October 28, 2022 at 07:50 AM
SS, agree with you about getting rid of the state lottery. It isn't exactly a tax on the poor as it isn't required to play, but state-sponsored gambling is immoral and wrong and should be illegal. For whatever reason, it is very very extremely disproportionately played by the poor. "And our schools win too" they said, but our schools suck ever more. All they do is backfill the money they pull from schools with gambling money from liquor stores and 7-11s.
Posted by: Alan C. MIller | October 28, 2022 at 02:55 PM