blog post Reforming Proposition 13 By Mark Baldassare Mar 19, 2014 In the current legislative session there has been a movement toward making changes in the Proposition 13 tax limits that voters approved in 1978.
blog post Drought Watch: Roadblocks to Efficient Funding By Ellen Hanak, Caitrin Chappelle Mar 13, 2014 This is part of a continuing series on the impact of the drought.Looming legal challenges may limit the ability of local agencies to make continued investments in modern, integrated water management—investments that would better prepare us for population growth, climate change, and future droughts.
Fact Sheet The Initiative Process in California By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Sonja Petek, Jui Shrestha Oct 7, 2013
Report School Finance By Margaret Weston Nov 14, 2012 There is broad consensus that California's school finance system is inequitable, inadequate, and overly complex. In response to these critiques, this year Governor Jerry Brown proposed an overhaul of our school finance system. Also, two initiatives on the November ballot asked voters to increase education funding through tax increases: voters approved Proposition 30, which was integral to the governor's budget plan, and rejected Proposition 38, a citizens' initiative. Despite the passage of Proposition 30, California faces many school finance challenges. This report provides an overview of the state's school finance system and outlines some longstanding school finance issues that may be in play next year.
press release Half of Likely Voters Favor Proposition 30—Support Slightly Lower for Proposition 38 Sep 19, 2012
Fact Sheet The State-City Fiscal Relationship in California By Dean Misczynski, Marisol Cuellar Mejia Nov 18, 2011
press release Post-Election Survey: Proposition 8 Results Expose Deep Rifts Over Same-Sex Marriage Dec 3, 2008
Occasional Paper, Report State-Local Fiscal Conflicts in California: From Proposition 13 to Proposition 1A By Elisa Barbour Dec 7, 2007 Fiscal relations between California’s state and local governments have been contentious for the past three decades. The conflicts in intergovernmental relations can be traced back to Proposition 13, approved by the voters in 1978, as well as to subsequent state ballot initiatives that have fiscally constrained state, city, and county governments. By giving the state government more control over local revenue and also limiting state and local taxing and spending power, the voter measures have engendered a “zero-sum” political atmosphere in which fiscal considerations have dominated intergovernmental policymaking. However, many of the problematic aspects of the post-Proposition 13 local fiscal system have been the product not of ballot initiatives but of government actions or inactions. Within voter-imposed fiscal constraints, California’s state and local governments have had substantial room to shape fiscal and governance outcomes. This paper traces the evolution of the state-local relationship in California since Proposition 13 and concludes that California governments need to move beyond fighting over fiscal resources and to focus instead on the core problems facing the state.
