Ballot measures

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Oregon Voters Could Make It Harder to Raise Revenue

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Some two decades ago, Oregon joined more than a dozen states in passing a constitutional amendment that requires a legislative supermajority to approve tax hikes. Three years ago, the state Supreme Court and a subsequent legislative counsel opinion created what some say is a loophole. In November, voters could close it, making it harder for the state to raise revenue.

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The Week in Public Finance: Will Oklahoma Finally Wean Its Budget Off Oil?

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Oil prices fell to a two-month low this week. Any time they tumble, oil-dependent states like Oklahoma are on edge. More than most states with economies heavily reliant on oil and natural gas, its budget is extremely vulnerable to the ebb and flow of the oil economy.

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A Second State Could Ban Service Taxes

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More governments are looking to expand their sales tax to services like Netflix and yoga. Already, half of states tax fitness studio classes or memberships, while places like Chicago, Florida and Pennsylvania have all started taxingonline streaming services in recent years.

But there's a growing movement in conservative states to stop that trend.

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The Week in Public Finance: Amid Rising Home Prices, 2 States Take Property Tax Proposals to Voters

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Ballot measures in California and Louisiana seek to protect homeowners from huge property tax spikes.
BY  | SEPTEMBER 28, 2018
For Sale sign outside of a home.
(Shutterstock)

 

SPEED READ:

  • Voters in California and Louisiana face ballot measures that would reduce their property taxes at a time when the median U.S. home price has risen by 40 percent in five years
  • California's Proposition 5 would help seniors, the disabled or people who are homeless as the result of a natural disaster.
  • Louisiana's Amendment 6 would phase in homeowners’ new property taxes over four years.
 

Home prices have risen, but when voters in two states head to the polls in November, they could at least reduce their property taxes.

The median home price has risen by 40 percent nationwide in the past five years and is still rapidly rising. The increase is blamed largely on a housing shortage. The problem has been especially acute in California, which -- along with Louisiana -- is considering property tax reductions this fall. 

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The Week in Public Finance: Do Income Tax Caps Only Benefit the Wealthy?

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North Carolina voters will weigh in on the rare policy in November.
BY  | SEPTEMBER 7, 2018
The North Carolina Capitol (David Kidd)

For a summary of November's most important ballot measures, click here.

A proposed income tax cap in North Carolina survived a court challenge this week, leaving it to the voters to decide whether to lean in to what is a rare policy in state government.

The November ballot measure would lower the state’s income tax rate cap from 10 percent to 7 percent. That’s still above the state’s current flat income tax rate of just under 5.5 percent. But in the past, the rate has been as high as 8.25 percent for high-income earners.

Capping income tax rates is unusual. Georgia is the only other state that does so, with a 6 percent cap approved by voters in 2014.

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While Feds Loosen Payday Loan Regulations, Colorado Voters Could Clamp Down

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In a year when the federal government is dialing back financial regulations, Colorado could become the 16th state to limit the notoriously high interest rates on payday loans.
BY  | AUGUST 30, 2018
(Shutterstock)

For a summary of November's most important ballot measures, click here.

As the federal government walks back historic regulations on payday lending, Colorado voters this fall will be asked to tighten them -- a sign that strong consumer protections are increasingly being left to the states.

Short-term loans, often called payday loans because they’re due on the borrower’s next payday, have average interest rates of 129 percent in Colorado. Nationally, rates average between 150 percent and more than 600 percent a year. A ballot proposal, which was certified as Initiative 126 by the secretary of state on Tuesday, would cap those rates at 36 percent. If passed, Colorado would be the 16th state, plus the District of Columbia, to limit payday loan rates.

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The Week in Public Finance: After Teacher Strikes, Voters Will Get a Say on Education Funding

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Support for raising teacher pay is near historic highs, but is it enough for voters -- some in red states -- to approve tax increases?
BY  | AUGUST 24, 2018

Teachers protested outside the Colorado state Capitol in Denver this spring. (AP/David Zalubowski)

For a summary of November's most important ballot measures, click here.

After wide-scale teacher walkouts and strikes in six states this spring, support for teacher raises is nearing an all-time high. That could be a determining factor this fall in three states where voters will be asked to approve changes to boost school funding.

Arizona, Colorado and Oklahoma all have ballot measures on education funding and saw teacher walkouts this year. According to a new poll by the journal Education Next, nearly two out of every three respondents in those states, and others with teacher strikes, favor raising teacher pay -- a 16-point jump since last year. Nationally, about half of respondents support increasing teacher pay, the second-highest it has been in the survey's 12-year history.

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The Week in Public Finance: Do Supermajorities Really Stop Tax Hikes?

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Republican lawmakers in Florida want voters to approve a ballot measure that theoretically would make it harder to raise taxes. But it's debatable whether supermajority requirements actually do.
BY  | JULY 20, 2018
A November ballot initiative would require the Florida legislature to have a supermajority to raise taxes. (TNS/Joe Burbank)

In an effort to protect conservative tax policy, Florida lawmakers are hoping to make their state the 15th with a supermajority requirement to raise taxes.

The push has drawn national attention because it comes as some are predicting a wave of Democratic victories this fall that could pull state policy more to the left. Opponents of the proposed Florida constitutional amendment -- which would require 60 percent voter approval to pass -- say Republican lawmakers put this on the November ballot to “stack the deck” against any Democrats taking office after them.

“It’s very clear that they’re getting ready for when they’re out of power,” Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a Democrat, told The Washington Post. Gillum is running for governor on a platform of enacting "Medicare for All" and putting an additional $1 billion into education -- promises that would likely take tax increases to keep. “Everything we have proposed hinges on our ability to defeat this.”

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Missouri Passes Nation's First-Ever Ban on Services Sales Taxes

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As states increasingly try to tax services like Netflix and yoga, Missouri voters have decided to keep that from ever happening. How that will impact consumers is unclear.
BY  | NOVEMBER 9, 2016

As more governments look to expand their sales tax to services like Netflix and yoga, Missouri has become the first state to pass a ban on doing so.

With nearly all precincts reporting, voters approved the ban Tuesday 58 percent to 42 percent, persuaded by the argument that the measure was designed to protect the state's middle class and lower income earners.

The sales tax is generally seen by economists as regressive, meaning it places a bigger burden on low-income families because it takes a bigger chunk of change from their income.

“The time was right to make a stand," said Scott Charton, a spokesperson for the ballot measure's backers. "This is a victory for Missouri’s hard-working taxpayers and their families."

Arkansas, California Voters Approve Spending on Mega Projects

In an anti-debt climate, voters in the two states cleared the way for spending on major economic development projects.
BY  | NOVEMBER 9, 2016

In the post-recession era, "debt" is a four-letter word. State debt levels as a whole have been stagnant in recent years and, in 2014, actually recorded the first decline in the 28 years Moody's Investors Service has been tracking them.

It's in this climate that voters in Arkansas and California have cleared the way for more spending on mega projects that could be economic development boons in those states.

In Arkansas, voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot initiative that eliminates the state's current 5 percent cap on debt related to economic development projects. Proponents of Arkansas’ Issue 3, who included Gov. Asa Hutchinson, want the cap lifted so the state can be more competitive in attracting new corporations by helping fund mega projects. Voters easily approved the measure, 65-35.

In California, which has one of the highest taxpayer debt burdens in the country, the results were much closer. Voters narrowly rejected a proposal, 51-49, that could have derailed two of Gov. Jerry Brown's legacy projects. Prop. 53 would have limited the state's ability to issue debt for major projects by requiring voter approval to issue more than $2 billion in revenue bonds.

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Pleas for More Education Funding Fall Short on Election Day

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Voters in two states rejected measures that would have raised taxes -- either for consumers or corporations.
BY  | NOVEMBER 9, 2016

Voters in two financially-struggling states have struck down proposed tax increases that would have given more much-needed funding to education.

Public education was one of the biggest casualties of the Great Recession. Nearly a decade since it started, nearly half of states are still providing less general funding for schools than they were the year the economy tanked. But the rejections on election night reflect a feeling among taxpayers that governments are punting on a problem by passing on costs to them, rather than making their own difficult decisions.

In Oregon, which is facing a $1.3 billion deficit, voters shot down a proposal to impose a tax hike on corporations with more than $25 million in annual sales in the state. Opponents, largely corporations, called it a sales tax in disguise because they warned businesses would pass on the costs to consumers.

Pat McCormick, a spokesman for the campaign to defeat the tax, told the The Oregonian/OregonLive that Measure 97 "fell of its own weight when people understood what it would do."

Bilingual Education Will Make a Comeback in California

The state, which has more English-language learners than any other, restricted bilingual education in the '90s. Voters are bringing it back.
BY  | NOVEMBER 9, 2016

Nearly two decades after voters made California one of the most restrictive states for bilingual education in public schools, residents on Tuesday reversed that decision.

In California -- which has the nation's highest rate of students who speak a non-English language at home -- fewer than 5 percent of public schools now offer multilingual programs. But by approving Proposition 58, school districts can now offer regular dual-language programs.

In 1998, voters approved Prop. 227, a law passed amid anti-immigrant fervor that said students whose first language isn't English can only take one year of intensive English instruction before transitioning to English-only classes. Parents who wanted bilingual classes for their kids beyond that had to sign a waiver each year.

Prop. 58 essentially repeals the waiver system but keeps intact the part of the law requiring proficiency in English. It cruised to victory Tuesday night by a nearly three-to-one margin.

Facing 652% Interest Rates, South Dakota Voters Regulate Payday Lending

They joined the growing number of states that regulate the industry that critics say traps poor people in a cycle of debt.
BY  | NOVEMBER 9, 2016

In South Dakota, where payday loan interest rates average a whopping 652 percent and are among the highest in the nation, voters have struck back by approving a 36 percent rate cap.

With more than half of precincts reporting Tuesday night, results showed voters approved the move to regulate the industry by a margin of three to one. More than a dozen other states have enacted a similar cap on loan interest rates.

Critics of the payday industry say lenders prey upon low-income borrowers who are unable to access financing from mainstream banks. These borrowers, they claim, easily get trapped in a cycle of debt. Payday lenders, however, argue that they fill a critical hole in the economy by allowing people with poor credit to get emergency loans.

The push for the rate cap was led by South Dakotans for Responsible Lending, which also fended off a rival measure placed on the ballot more recently and backed by the payday lending industry. That measure proposed an 18 percent cap -- unless the borrower agreed to a higher rate. Opponents said the measure was intentionally misleading and would have essentially legalized sky-high interest rates for payday borrowers in South Dakota.

Voters Give Georgia's Plan to Take Over Failing Schools an "F"

As other states launch similar plans to improve education, Georgia is back to the drawing board.
BY  | NOVEMBER 9, 2016

Georgians have rejected Gov. Nathan Deal's plan to take over chronically failing schools amid concerns that the proposal was too vague and alienated local officials.

The ballot measure, which would have led to a new state agency with its own state school superintendent appointed by the governor, failed by a 3-to-2 margin.

The result was largely expected as polling showed public opinion moving against the idea in recent months.

Lisa-Marie Haygood, president of the Georgia PTA, celebrated with other opponents of the measure on Tuesday night. Opponents also included teachers, school boards and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young.

“We did it,” Young told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We all wanted to stop a bad law from taking effect.”

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New Jersey Voters Refuse to Build Casinos Outside Atlantic City

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With Atlantic City in financial crisis because of casino closures, the state's voters aren't willing to take any more gambles.
BY  | NOVEMBER 8, 2016

Atlantic City will keep its monopoly on New Jersey's gambling industry. Voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure that would have added two new casino sites in the northern part of the state.

The results are a rare win for the struggling seaside resort town, which has met repeated disappointment in recent years as casinos have closed and pushed the city into a fiscal crisis.

In the weeks leading up to the vote, polling showed the measure headed for defeat. With about half of precincts reporting on Tuesday night, results showed the referendum failing 78 percent to 22 percent.

Although the measure said about one-third of any new casino revenue would have gone to Atlantic City for 15 years for economic revitalization, opponents said they doubted the revenue-sharing proposal would generate enough money to make a difference. Opponents included casino worker unions and Atlantic City-area stakeholders.

Georgia's Plan to Take Over Failing Schools Faces Long Odds

Opposition to the proposal has swelled in recent weeks as the state tries to imitate Tennessee's Achievement School District.
BY  | NOVEMBER 4, 2016

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal wants to join a burgeoning movement that would allow a state takeover of chronically failing schools. But with less than a week left before Georgians vote on the proposal, he faces an uphill battle as the track record of takeovers elsewhere has yielded inconsistent results and public opinion appears solidly against the idea.

The ballot proposal asks whether the state should be allowed to “intervene” to improve “chronically failing” schools. If approved, it would trigger legislation passed last year by lawmakers that creates a new state agency with its own state school superintendent appointed by the governor.

This superintendent would oversee the so-called Opportunity School District, which could take over up to 20 new schools per year and govern no more than 100 schools at any one time. The schools eligible are those that have earned an “F” on the state’s accountability system three years in a row

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To Limit Debt or Make It Limitless? 2 States’ Voters Will Decide.

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In an anti-debt climate, one state aims to rein it in while another tries to uncap it.
BY  | OCTOBER 27, 2016

In the post-recession era, "debt" is a four-letter word. State debt levels as a whole have been stagnant in recent years and, in 2014, actually recorded the first decline in the 28 years Moody's Investors Service has been tracking them.

It’s in this climate that voters in two states are considering nearly opposite proposals on debt.

California, which has one of the highest taxpayer debt burdens in the country, will decide whether to limit lawmakers’ ability to issue debt for major projects. Prop. 53 would require voter approval to issue more than $2 billion in revenue bonds.

In Arkansas, a ballot initiative proposes making it easier for the state to incur more debt. Issue 3 would eliminate the state's current 5 percent cap on debt related to economic development projects.

Each state's history with bond debt has a lot to do with these conflicting proposals

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In Need of Education Funding, States Look to Customers and Corporations

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Tax-raising ballot measures this fall showcase the political power of corporations.
BY  | OCTOBER 21, 2016

Public education was one of the biggest casualties of the Great Recession. Nearly a decade since it started, nearly half of states are still providing less general funding for schools than they were the year the economy tanked.

Two states, however, are asking voters to boost education funding this fall -- but they differ on who should pay for it: customers or corporations.

In California, the Battle Over Bilingual Education Is Back

The state has more English-language learners than any other and also some of the country's most restrictions on bilingual education. November could change that.
BY  | OCTOBER 6, 2016

As research shows the benefits of a bilingual education, dual-language immersion programs are becoming more popular and not just for English-language learners. But in California -- which has the nation's highest rate of students who speak a non-English language at home -- getting a bilingual education is harder than in most states.

That could change in November, though, as voters have a chance to repeal a 1998 law that passed amid anti-immigrant fervor and severely limited access to bilingual education in the state. If approved, Prop. 58 would allow school districts to offer regular dual-language programs.

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Is Ending Atlantic City's Casino Monopoly Worth the Gamble?

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The closure of casinos in Atlantic City has left the municipality in financial crisis. Now New Jersey wants to build more in other places.
BY  | SEPTEMBER 8, 2016

A proposal to end Atlantic City’s casino monopoly in New Jersey would spell the end for the struggling seaside resort town. At least that's what opponents of the idea say.

Backers of the ballot measure, however, say it's the city's best hope for revitalizing its downtown and diversifying its economy beyond gaming.

This November, New Jersey voters will decide whether to allow two new casinos to be built in the state. About one-third of any new casino revenue would go to Atlantic City for 15 years for economic revitalization.

The vote comes as Atlantic City, once the East Coast’s gaming capital, has struggled in the face of increased competition in neighboring states. In the past 15 years, more than a dozen casinos have opened in Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania