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League of Women Voters^®
of the Beach Cities

Our positions on ballot measures for the June 8, 2010. Interested in hearing more? You may also read our summary of recommendations or print a PDF. The League has a Speakers Bureau, and would be pleased to brief community groups on our recommendations. Contact Joan Arias (Joan@BeachVoter.org) or call (310) 793-0569 for more information.

Prop 15 recommendation. Prop 16 recommendation. Props 13, 14, and 17. Why we make recommendations.

Prop 15 - We recommend a YES vote on the California Fair Elections Act.

Huge amounts of money are raised in California politics, giving special interests unfair influence and access and shutting out the rest of us. Proposition 15 takes an important step toward getting politicians out of the fundraising game. It is a pilot project to make voluntary public financing available to Secretary of State candidates in 2014 and 2018. Only candidates showing broad support and agreeing to strict reporting and spending limits would receive funding. Violators would face fines, possible jail time, and prohibitions from running for office in the future. The pilot program would be funded primarily by fees on lobbyists, lobbying firms and lobbyist employers, with no taxpayer dollars going to candidates. Proposition 15 will allow elected officials to start focusing on the public's interest, instead of returning political favors to their campaign donors.
More information, including a list of supporters and opponents and other information resources, is at the LWVC Web site. See also our press release and read more about our work in campaign finance. See also How Do Propositions 14 and 15 Interact?

Prop 16 - We recommend a NO vote on this initiative to Impose New Two-thirds Voter Approval Requirement for Local Public Electricity Providers.

This measure would require local governments to have the approval of two-thirds of the voters before providing electricity to new customers, expanding service into new territory, or contracting with electric service providers through a community choice aggregation program using public funds or bonds.
As noted in the LAO analysis of Proposition 16, there are three kinds of providers of electricity service in California: investor-owned utilities (IOUs), local publicly owned electric utilities, and electric service providers (ESPs). A state law passed in 2002 allowed cities or counties to contract with electricity providers other than their current IOU through Community Choice Aggregation (CCA), and several local governments are considering that option. The LWVC supported the legislation that authorized CCAs under our Energy position. The existing IOU would continue transmission and distribution of the electricity.
In some cases when a change in the provision of electricity service is proposed, a public vote is required-- for instance, for a publicly-owned utility to annex new territory. In other cases, such as the creation of a CCA, only a vote of the local governing board is required.
Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) is an IOU that has a monopoly on provision of gas and electric power in much of northern and central California. The company has opposed attempts by local governments to add to the territory they serve, or to create a CCA. PG&E has waged aggressive campaigns, both on ballot measures and in expensive public relations campaigns, and has so far been largely successful in fending off those threats. It has generally been an unequal battle, because PG&E can freely use shareholder money to finance campaigns, while local government is strictly limited in spending taxpayer funds to put forward their own case.
Now, PG&E has turned to the initiative process to place on the ballot a measure that would require not just approval by the voters, but a two-thirds supermajority vote for nearly any local action that would take the sale of electric power away from PG&E and transfer it to local government or allow them to purchase it through a CCA. That would mean that PG&E, with its unlimited ability to use its funds--money that comes originally from rate payers--would only have to gain the support of a minority of local voters to defeat any such local measure.
PG&E's campaign tries to make voters believe that if local governments choose to buy electric power from any source other than PG&E, the likely result is either higher rates for that service or the local government raising local taxes or floating bond measures to meet escalating costs. But under current law, local governments cannot either raise any taxes or pass bond measures without going to the voters for approval.
Neither local government power providers nor CCAs are profit-making enterprises that need to satisfy shareholders. If communities choose to obtain their energy from publicly owned utilities or CCAs, it is because they want to obtain it at lower cost, or from "greener" sources, such as renewable or less polluting energy sources, than PG&E offers.
More information, including a list of supporters and opponents and other information resources, is at the LWVC Web site.

No recommendation on other measures on this ballot.

Prop 13 - Limits on Property Tax Assessment. Seismic Retrofitting of Existing Buildings: The League generally supports regular, frequent reappraisals for property tax purposes, and this measure excludes certain construction from reappraisal. However, considering the public safety benefit of encouraging seismic retrofits, we remain neutral on this proposal.
Prop 14 - Top-Two Candidate Open Primary and Prop 17 Auto Insurance Pricing: Because League positions do not cover the issues in Propositions 14 and 17, the LWVC is taking no stand on these measures.

Why did we make these recommendations?

The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan organization, which means we do not endorse candidates or parties. However, the League does take stands on measures when we have studied the issue and our membership has reached agreement on the policies and positions to support. We never take positions on candidates or political parties.
If you have questions about League positions and their application to a particular proposition, contact advocacy@lwvc.org. League members may also find our Action Materials by logging into our LWVC members only sites at http://ca.lwv.org/lwvonly/.
Also see our nonpartisan analysis of all propositions.

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: May 8, 2010 20:21 PDT.