Last Tuesday during the primary, voters saw five propositions on the statewide ballot, four that ultimately passed and one that failed.
Proposition 68 passed, authorizing $4 billion in bond funding for natural resources programs, such as habitat conservation, parks and water-related projects. Since its focus is on upgrading sites in Southern California, such as parks, wildlands and water systems, it has implications for unincorporated areas, such as parts of the Santa Clarita Valley.
Proposition 69 also passed, requiring that the estimated $5 billion annually raised by the 12-cents-a-gallon tax Gov. Jerry Brown and state legislators approved last year will go only toward fixing roads.
The law in contention, Senate Bill 1, increased the gas tax by 0.12 per gallon and the diesel fuel tax by $0.20 per gallon. It was signed into law in April 2017 by Gov. Jerry Brown, and also created an annual transportation-improvement fee and annual zero-emission vehicles fee. It’s slated to raise over $52 billion over a decade to pay for aging roads and transit systems, like Interstate 5, which takes thousands of commuters through the Santa Clarita Valley each day.
Proposition 70 failed. It mandated that the Legislature would need a a legislative supermajority of two-thirds votes starting in 2024, to approve legislation such as the selling state greenhouse gas emission permits to determining how to spend revenue from its cap-and-trade fund.
Proposition 71 passed. The measure calls for delaying implementation of election results until after all votes are counted beyond what is tallied on election night.
Proposition 72 passed. Homeowners who add rainwater capture systems after Jan. 1, 2019, will not be taxed on the increased value of their property under the initiative.
