by Divya Arjun and Jordan Parish
The 2020 election was a historic one, no doubt, with coronavirus, economic deterioration, and jeopardy of civil rights involved. But specifically in California, there was more than just our presidential candidates on the ballots – there were props (propositions) too – the most important ones are prop 15, 16, 20, and 22. Of those, only proposition 22 was approved.
Prop 15: INCREASES FUNDING SOURCES FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, COMMUNITY COLLEGES, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES BY CHANGING TAX ASSESSMENT OF COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
This prop obviously entails raising funds for education, and it will be done through the raising of property taxes, taxes based entirely on market value, for businesses and properties worth more than $3 million; however, 80% of properties in California are worth $3 million or less. This threshold could be met by some business property owner’s portfolio. Prop 15 will also close a major tax loophole, which has existed since 1978, when Prop 13, which also impacted property taxes, was passed. This allowed for large corporations to pay abnormally low rates in property taxes. Small businesses will also have to pay more in these taxes despite what the Prop itself says, but USC researchers have found that only 8% of the (possible) $12.5 billion in tax revenue comes from small businesses– there are still worries.
Farmers do not support this measure since they believe that Prop 15’s silence on land improvements could mean higher property tax assessments for barns, offices — and even fruit trees planted as part of new farming operations. This would greatly affect agriculture itself, says Jamie Johansson, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation and an Oroville farmer. Supporters argue that Prop 15 would not have any sort of impact on agricultural areas since the proposition itself tells county tax assessors to exclude these zones. But Prop 15 will certainly not be a quick fix. Its implementation will take much time and many come with loopholes in regards to agricultural protections.
Source https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-10-15/proposition-13-changes-business-property-taxes-california
Prop 16: ALLOWS DIVERSITY AS A FACTOR IN PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION, AND CONTRACTING DECISIONS. LEGISLATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
Roughly 25 years ago, affirmative action in California was repealed; however, with the passing of Prop 16 comes reinstatement. Eva Paterson of the Equal Rights Society, an Oakland-based civil rights organization advocating for Proposition 16, says a vote for this measure means a vote to help end systemic racism, and that women and people of color would benefit from having more money and more power. Under Proposition 16, public universities, including the University of California and California State systems, would be allowed to consider race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin to address diversity in admissions and other programs. Both state and local governments would be allowed to consider those same factors when hiring government employees and awarding government contracts.
Ward Connerly, a Black UC regent, strongly opposes this measure, for he believes that people should be accepted to college or hired for a job based solely on their merit. Connerly actually championed proposition 209 which sought to end affirmative action, which former Governor Pete Wilson (in office from 1994-1998) successfully approved. Even during this time, Black, Latinx, and Asian voters all opposed measure 209 while their white counterparts were in support of it. The aftermath of Prop 209’s passing has been women and minority owned businesses losing billions of dollars worth of government contracts to large corporations, which are typically firms that employ predominantly white males. Furthermore, UC Berkeley conducted a study where they discovered that Prop 209 harmed Black and Latinx students by reducing their graduation rate and wages, upon entering the workforce. On the contrary,Tom Campbell, former Republican congressman from California who supported the measure, says the repealing of it will allow California schools to pick winners and losers.
Prop 20: RESTRICTS PAROLE FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES CURRENTLY CONSIDERED TO BE NON-VIOLENT. AUTHORIZES FELONY SENTENCES FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES CURRENTLY TREATED ONLY AS MISDEMEANORS. INITIATIVE STATUTE.
This prop would change specific types of theft crime including firearm theft, vehicle theft, and unlawful use of a credit card chargeable as felonies as well as misdemeanors.
Prop 22: APP-BASED DRIVERS AS CONTRACTORS AND LABOR POLICIES INITIATIVE
Proposition 22 would “consider app-based drivers to be independent contractors and not employees, state employment-related labor laws would not not cover app-based drivers”. This prop would also change the following:
- Payments for the difference between a worker’s net earnings, excluding tips, and a net earnings floor based on 120% of the minimum wage applied to a driver’s engaged time and 30 cents, adjusted for inflation after 2021, per engaged mile.
- Limiting app-based drivers from working more than 12 hours during a 24-hour period, unless the driver has been logged off for an uninterrupted 6 hours.
- For drivers who average at least 25 hours per week of engaged time during a calendar quarter, require companies to provide healthcare subsidies equal to 82% the average California Covered (CC) premium for each month.
- For drivers who average between 15 and 25 hours per week of engaged time during a calendar quarter, require companies to provide healthcare subsidies equal to 41% the average CC premium for each month.
- Require companies to provide or make available occupational accident insurance to cover at least $1 million in medical expenses and lost income resulting from injuries suffered while a driver was online (defined as when the driver is using the app and can receive service requests) but not engaged in personal activities.
- Require the occupational accident insurance to provide disability payments of 66 percent of a driver’s average weekly earnings during the previous four weeks before the injuries suffered (while the driver was online but not engaged in personal activities) for upwards of 104 weeks (about 2 years).
- Require companies to provide or make available accidental death insurance for the benefit of a driver’s spouse, children, or other dependents when the driver dies while using the app.
