California’s proposition results and summaries

Yesterday, California made its voice heard during the Presidential Election, but many progresses were made on the legislative front as well. Over 15 propositions were either passed or eschewed with a mix of enacted laws that  were close calls and landslides.

Indeed, in some ways, the legislative process mirrored the tight race of the Presidential Election.

Leading the process was Proposition 51, which was passed for California schools to receive a $9 billion-dollar bond. Prior to the enactment, the state did not possess the necessary funding to assist schools with repairs and construction. Prop 51 had one of the more split voting results by passing with a final point difference of 8%.

Moving right along with one of the more controversial motions, while Proposition 62 was repealed in favor of keeping the death penalty, Prop 66 was passed in correlation by one of the narrowest margins of 1.8%. The latter motion was voted through which expedites the death penalty process.

In practical terms, Prop 66 would allow the courts to employ the burgeoning of lawyers to handle appeal processes which have been hindered by lethargic proxy in the past. Additionally, the law would allow for the suppression of petitions to appeal death penalty recipients along with successive petitions that would implicate their pardon.

While many of the new laws and motions were passed or repealed in close margins, Proposition 64 -which allows for recreational use of marijuana- passed by a 12% margin. As of today, California joins five other states with the same marijuana legalization status. While 21 other states allow for sole medicinal use.

With the discussion of the Second Amendment on the rise in the light of recent mass shootings both domestically and statewide, Proposition 63 was passed to allow for increased gun control. The motion is bound to implications of ammo possession instead of gun ownership. The initiative states that gun owners must give up magazines that have an excess of 10 rounds and report any unaccounted or stolen guns. It additionally begins a legislative process for people convicted of a felony.

In rounding out our summary of the most notable initiatives, Proposition 55 was passed in a landslide vote of 62.1% to 37.9%.  The new initiative had long-term implications for California’s most wealthy tax payers, with single-filers having a salary of $263,000 or more having to pay an increased 10.3% income tax until the year 2030. All joint-filers earning more than $526,000 will pay the same amount of income tax as the former filer as well.

That’s just the generic overview of California’s propositions which have all been officially enacted as of today. Here is a full comprehensive list which also shows the vote by each county.