by Centia Batz, action chair, League of Women Voters Claremont Area

The League of Women Voters of the Claremont Area offers its recommendations to voters on state propositions.

Prop 1 Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond: YES

California is experiencing a housing crisis. The state’s extreme shortage of affordable housing has life and death consequences, especially for people with low incomes. Prop 1 will build and preserve affordable homes, including supportive housing, for veterans, working families, people with disabilities, Californians experiencing homelessness and others struggling to find a safe place to call home. It will authorize $4 billion in general obligation bonds, to be used to support these affordable housing programs. It would also leverage federal dollars for construction of new housing. Vote yes on Prop 1.

Prop 2 Homeless Housing Bond: YES

A quarter of the nation’s homeless reside in California—over 130,000 people. A significant percentage of our homeless population suffer from mental illness. Prop 2 allows the use of unspent money, originally allocated through a 2004 measure to fund mental health services, to be used to address the problem. If passed, the unspent money would be used to provide permanent supportive housing for people who need mental health services and are either currently homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Vote yes on Prop 2.

Prop 3 Water Bond: NO

It is essential that California manage and develop water resources in ways that benefit the environment. However, this bond is not the way to accomplish those goals. While the League of Women Voters of California supports the use of long-term debt (bond measures) to finance capital projects, this measure has a number of fatal flaws, including shifting the cost for water from the end users to California taxpayers; reducing state money available for other critical state programs like education, affordable housing and healthcare; failing to provide for adequate project oversight and financial accountability. Vote no on Prop 3.

Prop 4 Children’s Hospital Bond: NO

While the League of Women Voters of California supports quality healthcare for all Californians, Prop 4 would use $1.5 billion in public, general obligation bond money to support privately-owned children’s hospitals, along with five children’s hospitals in the University of California system. State funds should not be used to support private facilities. This principle stands even when, as is the case in this measure, the facilities serve severely ill children. The bond money would be used for capital improvements that could be funded either through revenues the private hospitals generate or through capital campaigns (where, for example, a building is named after a donor). Vote no on Prop 4.

Prop 5 Property Tax: NO

Property taxes are the major source of funding for schools and local services. Prop 5 is a costly constitutional amendment that would reduce funds for schools and local services by $1 billion per year. Prop 5 would provide special tax benefits to some property owners. It does nothing to help low-income seniors or families struggling to find housing. Seniors already have the ability to keep their tax break when they downsize. Prop 5 drains California’s coffers of money that is essential to schools and communities. Vote not on Prop 5.

Prop 6 Gas Tax Repeal: NO

California is in critical need of highway and local street repairs and maintenance, and improvements to mass transit and transportation. Prop 6 would repeal the recently-enacted 2017 package of taxes and fees approved by the state legislature to fund transportation projects, amounting to a loss of $4.7 billion in annual funding. The measure would also add a constitutional amendment requiring any fuel or diesel taxes to be approved by voters, limiting the legislature’s ability to address California’s serious infrastructure needs. Passage of this repeal measure would have significant negative impacts and leave our state structures vulnerable, especially during natural disasters. Vote no on Prop 6.

Prop 10 Repeal Costa Hawkins: YES

Multiple strategies are needed to address the significant housing shortages and inequities that exist across California. While this rent control measure offers little systemic progress, and may not result in adding new affordable housing units, it does allow local communities to respond to the housing crisis in ways that are appropriate for each of them. We support providing local communities with this control. Vote yes on Prop 10.

The LWVC is taking no stand on Prop 7 (daylight savings time), Prop 8 (dialysis), Prop 11 (ambulance drivers), and Prop 12 (farm animals). Prop 9 was removed from the ballot.

Vote with the League on November 6