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CALIFORNIA:
- Prop. 19 (Marijuana Legalization): NO 54-46 (Legalize personal use and possession of marijuana)
- Prop. 20 (Redistricting): YES 61-39 (Removes elected reps. from the process of establishing congressional districts)
- Prop. 23 (Climate Change): NO 61-39 (Suspends state law requiring reducing carbon emissions until the unemployment rate falls below 5.5% for four straight quarters)
COLORADO:
- Amend. 62 (Abortion): NO 3-to-1 margin (Defines a ‘person’ as beginning at conception)
ARIZONA:
- Prop. 106 (Health Care): YES (Prohibits mandatory participation in health care system)
MASSACHUSETTS:
- Question 3 (Taxes): NO (Cuts the state’s sales tax from 6.25% to 3% effective 1/1/11)
WASHINGTON:
- Init. No. 1098 (Taxes): NO (Increases state income tax on high-earners - above $200,000 - and married couples - $400,000)
FLORIDA:
- Amend. Art. Vi, Sec 7 (Campaign Finance): NO 52-48 (Repeals requiring public financing of campaigns for statewide offices)
ILLINOIS:
- Amend. Sec. 7 to Art III (Elected Officials): YES (Allows for recalling a governor by petition)
MICHIGAN:
- Prop. 10-2 (Elected Officials): YES (Prohibits those convicted of a felony while in office from serving in another elected position or being appointed to a position for 20 years)
Leave a Comment:
One other thing, very local, but I was glad to see it passed - a simple direct-value tax on property owners in Houston to finance an overhaul of the city's irrigation in order to stave off possible future flooding should we be hit with torrential rains or hurricanes in the near future. I don't have a problem paying an extra five or ten bucks to improve drainage.
To the above referendums: good on Florida and Michigan in particular and a special kudos to Colorado for preserving Roe v. Wade while stamping on HCR. That kind of tickles me~
I used to live in The Woodlands. There were some awful floods during...1999, I think, which caused tons of water damage in the Houston area. I'm surprised something like that didn't pass sooner!
Aye - later in 2001, when TS Allison came through, the same thing happened and THAT kicked off the city requesting the Army Corps of Engineers to come in, assess the system and make recommendations. Several in spent millions and a number of damaging storms later (Ike being the final straw), it was deemed the Corps didn't know their ass from a hole in the ground and the proposal to localize a new engineering project came about.
I don't know if you just lived in or are actually from the Woodlands, but that community is actually a part of Conroe, not Houston - the Woodlands makes a huge stink about annexation proposals and remains separate from the rest of the city, so this drainage project won't actually tax or aid them when it's finally complete.
I'm not from the Woodlands, just lived there when I was a wee lad. Honestly, I thought Conroe and the Woodlands were separate towns separated by the highway.
I didn't know that the town was separate from the rest of the city, but it makes more sense now. It was rich-people ville when I lived there - I felt like the only actual middle class family there. I can see them biting their collective thumbs at the rest of the area. Shame too, because the flooding I spoke of left something like two of the five or six major subdivisions of the town under water.
...you used a reference to a Shakesperean insult. I'm impressed. Anyhow!
Yes, the Woodlands is very...full of itself, and that's putting it mildly. Most of the people who live there relocated from Spring and Greenspoint when those areas turned to slums. They're exceptionally proud of the fact that they've resisted annexation (and make it a point to rag on other previously-independent areas like Kingwood) and laud their affluence as a mark of superiority.
Strange thing is, insofar as I'm aware, the leadership in Conroe hasn't much of an issue with the Woodlands being annexed because Conroe proper is a world apart, but the monied interests won't have it - nevermind the only immediate, tangible change would be a 1.25% sales tax hike and access to all of Houston's services.
My twin brother is in the process of obtaining his Master's in English. It's almost as if I'm beside him, taking classes on how to properly use ellipses, stories in which all characters have sex and die, and batsh*t literary interpretation 101.
Last I saw it, The Woodlands was in good shape. They definitely think they're too good for it, but maybe they don't think they need the City's services. Still, it's a small price to pay for that kind of access.
Oh, they're assuredly in good shape; but in my experience, far too many of the Woodlands' residents lead a very insular and xenophobic life. It's the kind of community that'd be the first to burn if ever there's another rich vs. poor revolution.
Congrats! At least SOMEBODY has a CLUE!!!
I made a ton of money on California NOT passing legalized marijuana!
ED, Anon,
I know the Woodlands, a good friend of mine is the head soccer coach at the High school. There are lots of richie rich people there. And that mall, it would hold all the flood waters there anyway. Hope you all are having a good day.
BB, we should turn the mall into an aquifer if ever we live in a post-apocalyptic wasteland~
That would be cool. Parts of the mall could easily be fortified for protection. So when we get to the apocalyptic wasteland, I will meet you there.
BigBear - You're almost correct! The flood I spoke about earlier? My house survived with no damage because we lived with our backyard to a ditch connecting Lake Woodlands and another, smaller man-made lake. Other homes weren't so lucky.
I lived there before the dock was attached to the mall. It was quite the monstrosity back then though!
ED - you're right. I would not like to be in that town for the zombie apocalypse. Would be fun to watch though.
I think you got Washington 1098 wrong. It went down decisively, even in King County
it went down with over 65 percent of the vote last i check.. Perhaps they can Change it.. Even here in the Liberal State of Washington the Voters know that Taking more of the peoples money is Wrong...
So, let me see- a ballot initiative to raise taxes on the evil rich goes down in flames, but First Read says it passed?
It has got to be wishful thinking on the part of the author of this piece. Currently preparing an article on how the sit ulous worked?
No, it's just a mistake, but it would be nice if it was corrected. It doesn't reflect well on the state.
California - I'm glad 20 passed (and 27 didn't), and 23 didn't pass. I'm also glad 25 passed. Perhaps the budget process will be sped up a bit. I'm unhappy that 19 failed, 22 passed, 24 failed, and 26 passed.
One of the ballot initiatives here actually comes up every 10 year. It's a question as to whether or not we should have a constitutional convention. This one had me a little scared because Conservative politicians wanted to talk about it. The claim was that they didn't have anything in mind for such an event, they just think it's a good idea to poke around every so often and think about things.
Yeah, right.
You guys have CO partially wrong. Prop 106 was for Arizona. Colorado's similar healthcare vote was Amendment 63 and it failed to pass, meaning people in CO aren't quite as stupid as those in AZ...sorry, I couldn't resist.
Seriously, the only people affected by the mandatory health insurance are those without it. And for those without it who can't afford it, there are subsidies to help cover the cost.
Maybe it meant that before, when you got sick, you just sucked it up and dealt with it. Now, it means you can actually go to the doctor and get the help you need and keep the rest of us from getting sick too and stuck with your unpaid bill.
Just for the record: the summary article contains an error relative to Colorado results. The health care initiative was prop 63, and it was rejected. The listing of the passage of 106 is either an error, or fiction. Please correct.
Feisty, you out there somewhere? You seem to run this place, could you let them know they got the Washington State ballot initiative 1098 results wrong?
Thanks, sweetie!
See, just gotta contact the right people.
I am very grateful that the good people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts had the wisdom to reject Ballot Initiative #3 which would have reduced the sales tax in this state from 6.25% to 3%. Believe in or not, it actually takes money to run our state and provide the services that many of our citizens depend on. Passage of this would have put a little extra cash in our pockets and would have provided some assistance to certain local merchants as well . There are people here who head off to New Hampshire to purchase certain goods where they don't have to pay this tax. In the balance of things, however, accepting the initiative would have cost us a lot more money than we would have saved. I have no intention visiting New Hampshire for the purpose of buying anything at anytime.
Wish they could reduce ours to 6.25%.
I was kind of sad that CO 62 wasn't talked about more. It would nice if we had a definition of when life begins, that way we would know whether or not abortion is murder.
Big, big can of worms there. Whether or not abortion is legal won't stop it from being performed to one degree or another and the last thing I need to think about is some sixteen year old with a coat-hanger hooked into her uterine wall that she can't dislodge.
We need a proposition in Texas to keep religion out of the science books.
And I like the one in California that remove elected officials from the redistricting process. We need that, too.
The redistricting committee in CA actually passed in '08. There were two Props on the ballot this year: 20, which was for keeping it, and 27, which aimed to repeal the '08 law. If both had passed, the Prop that passed with the highest margin would have gone in to effect. Such is CA's awful balloting process. Thankfully, the former passed and the latter didn't.