Allison Olson, CFRW Advocate
Capitol Update
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
California Federation of Republican Women
Sue Blair, President
Primary Election Results
The Primary Election results are in… almost. There are still approximately 1.7 million ballots unprocessed and outstanding in California (at time of print). This could dramatically change some current election results. Last election we had victories for some our candidates change after all the ballots were processed, and that could happen again. The California Republican Party is watching various races closely to ensure the integrity of our elections process is being upheld by our government. It is looking like despite the Democratic Presidential Primary, that Republican Voters turned out in large numbers. The California Republican Party deployed many new tactics this primary election to get out the vote, which included ballot harvesting, remote phone banking, digital targeted ads on social media, text messaging and more. These efforts will prepare us for November!
Who really needs to prepare for November is the Secretary of State and elections offices in counties around California. The number of unprocessed ballots a week after the election is ridiculous. On election day, 15 counties were unable to connect with the Secretary of State’s online statewide voter registration database. There were many technical glitches in the same day registration voting occurring throughout the day as well. In L.A. County there were lines as long as three hours waiting to vote. These errors are unacceptable and compromise the integrity of our elections! The legislature needs to demand answers from Secretary of State Alex Padilla and fix these massive errors before November.
Prop 13 Failed!
Even with the number of ballots still unprocessed, it is looking likely that the March Prop 13 ballot measure has failed. At the time of print, Prop 13 is failing, with 54% NO and 46% YES votes. What a victory for California taxpayers! The $15 billion school facilities bond (with $11 billion in interest) was perhaps a price tag too high with the state’s current budget surplus and the $7.4 billion unused school facilities bonds outstanding. Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association’s President Jon Coupal thinks that the Democrats in the legislature and unions have been “put on notice” with the potential failure of Prop 13. HJTA spent a modest $250,000 to defeat Prop 13, compared to the $20 million Governor Newsom and his union friends spent. Jon Coupal speculates that this could be the beginning of a new California tax revolt! Could voters finally be weary of passing parcel taxes and bond measures without seeing any significant results? We must continue to educate California voters. Legislative Democrats have nothing but decades of failed policy to show for their majority rule. Read Jon Coupal’s commentary on Prop 13 HERE.
More Big Government Bills
Our favorite big government Senator, Scott Wiener (D, San Francisco) has proposed another high density housing bill, despite previous failed attempts by himself and legislative Democrats. SB 902 (Wiener, D) would allow the construction of duplex, triplex, and fourplex residential units without local government approval in single-family neighborhoods. This bill would supersede local zoning laws, allowing for the higher density homes, depending on the population of the city. It would also provide incentives for cities willing to allow 10-unit projects and after a vote from the local government, would exempt these units from CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) regulations. This bill comes on the heels of SB 50 (Wiener, D) failing in January. The housing crisis in California still needs to be addressed, and CEQA reforms should be at the heart of the issue. It is not as simple as building new homes on top of homes on top of homes when those homes cost, at a minimum, $350,000 just to build, with mandated solar panels in addition. More work from our legislature needs to be done, but local city and county governments must be included in the conversation and not be superseded by statewide mandates.
Disclaimer: The Capitol Update is an activity of the CFRW Advocate’s Office. The update is for information only. CFRW official positions on legislation are stated immediately preceding the stated legislation or immediately following the stated legislation in this report.
