California voters were first empowered to govern by ballot measure in 1911. Most were carefully crafted by powerful interest groups, often as much a solution to their problems as addressing an urgent public need. AdvertisementBy election day, the Silicon Valley companies had championed the most expensive ballot measure campaign in U.S. history. AdvertisementThe rigid nature of California’s ballot measure system helps explain another 2020 initiative, Proposition 15, the most ambitious effort yet to rethink Jarvis’ vaunted Proposition 13 tax rules. But it is the well-funded interest groups, not citizens, who control the modern-day ballot measure process.

Source: Los Angeles Times November 05, 2020 13:03 UTC