California Democratic Party Take Positions on Ballot Measures for November Election

Image C/O Andrew Burton / Getty Images

By Andrew Martinez Cabrera
Associate Editor

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Over the weekend, the California Democratic Party (CADEM) held an Executive Board meeting in San Diego to discuss which measures will appear on the ballot this November. CADEM’s Resolution Committee provided the Executive Board with various resolutions and recommended the “California Democratic Party to take the following positions.”

Resolutions supported include Assembly Constitution Amendment 1 (ACA 1) which would require 55% voter approval rather than a two-thirds approval for special taxes and bonds. Lowering the voter threshold would allow for easier approval of special taxes and bonds “for affordable housing and public infrastructure projects.” 

Also supported by CADEM was the ACA 5, which seeks to amend outdated language in the California Constitution, originally only recognizing marriage between a heterosexual couple. ACA 13, like ACA 1, similarly deals with voter thresholds in which any adopted measure would only be approved if the number of votes “is equal to or greater than the highest voter approval requirement that the initiative measure would impose.” 

Awaiting eligibility but still supported include an initiative to add a one-semester finance course as a high school graduation requirement, permanent funding for Medicare services, the expansion of local governments’ “authority to enact rent control on residential property,” and the raising of the state minimum wage from $15 to $18. 

Opposed by the California Democratic Party include an increase in felony charges for drug possessions and theft crimes, restrictive rights for transgender youth, and eliminating employees' ability to file lawsuits for monetary penalties concerning state-labor violations.

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