I don’t know about you but I’m still not quite fully adjusted to the fact that our primary election was held in mid-August. I’m so conditioned to thinking about mid to late September as primary season, which of course starts me thinking about the upcoming November election.
This is an off-year election for state races as you know, although there are plenty of interesting city and county contests to follow. There are two issues of state significance on the November ballot, however, that bear some attention. The first is Referendum 71, which seeks to overturn a bill (E2SSB 5688) passed by the Legislature during the 2009 session related to domestic partnerships. Voters who support the domestic partnership legislation passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor would vote to “Approve” Referendum 71. Votes who oppose the bill would vote to “Reject” Referendum 71.
The other statewide ballot measure is Initiative 1033 which would limit the annual growth of state, city and county general fund revenue to the rate of inflation and population growth. General fund revenues exceeding this limit must be used to reduce the following year’s state, city or county general fund property tax levy.
According to an analysis prepared by the state Office of Financial Management, I-1033 would reduce state general fund revenues by a total of $5.9 billion, county revenues by $694 million and city revenues by $2.1 billion over the next six years. The initiative is set on a calendar year basis and if passed, would go into effect in 2011 where the loss to the state general fund budget is estimated to be $676 million.