A number of propositions are on the ballot in California’s general election of November 5. The Peace & Freedom Party endorses a YES vote on Propositions 6, 32 and 35 and NO votes on Propositions 5 and 36. Our reasoning is as follows.
• Proposition 5: Vote NO—Against excessive taxation on affordable housing
The California State Legislature voted last fall to put a measure on the ballot that would lower the threshold for passing local taxes and bonds for affordable housing and infrastructure from 2/3 to 55% of the vote.
This spring, lawmakers passed a second measure to remove the 55% threshold for taxes. Under pressure from the real estate lobby, it added a ban on local governments from using the money to buy existing single-family homes, and buildings of four units or fewer, to convert them into affordable units. This compromise eliminated a readily available and cost-effective way of providing housing.
If Proposition 5 passes, it would apply not only to future bonds but to any bonds that are on the ballot this November as well.
As with most bonds, homeowners and other property owners—and indirectly, renters, by way of higher rents—must pay back the principal plus interest to the investors. The investors in most local bonds do not pay taxes on the interest income from the bond payoff.
Meanwhile, average homeowners face increasing property taxes. The funds could be used to build housing that ranges from the most deeply affordable for people on the verge of homelessness, to moderate-income households, which includes those making more than $150,000 a year. If a near consensus of a 2/3 vote makes any sense, it is when a government is committed to repayment via increased property taxes over many years into the future. Prop 5 makes such commitments through the passage of bonds more likely in the future. Vote NO on Proposition 5.
• Proposition 6: Vote YES—To prohibit slavery in California
Proposition 6 would amend the California Constitution to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude, including in prisons. In some states, criminal laws have been used to collect large numbers of prisoners to provide free or very cheap labor not just for the prison authorities, but for corporations that contract with the prisons to use this slave labor. Chain gangs (which still exist!) are an example of this forced labor. And of course, this almost always has a strong racist tinge, with members of racial minorities strongly targeted. But fewer people understand that, despite occasional reforms, such practices have not entirely been eliminated in California.
We strongly support this proposition and intend to press for following it up with additional changes in state law to wipe out the last vestiges of forced labor. There is no reason why prisoners can’t work, so long as it is for their own benefit, at the same wages they would make if free, and so long as no one is forced to do work to which they object. But there is every reason to forbid forced labor, in prison or out.
California should become a solid base for the national movement to outlaw involuntary servitude in any form, and complete the work of emancipation marked by the 13th Amendment of 1865. That amendment outlawed slavery except as punishment for a criminal conviction. The next step, which California should take in the November election, is to outlaw slavery for everyone, including for those convicted. Vote YES on Proposition 6.
• Proposition 32: Vote YES—To increase the minimum wage
Proposition 32 would increase the minimum wage in stages until it reaches $18 an hour, and then adjust it annually for inflation. Many California workers are already covered by higher minimum wages, in many cities and counties, and by special laws and ordinances covering fast-food workers, hospitality workers, and so on. But still, this proposition will result in pay raises for roughly two million workers, the worst-paid workers in California.
Of course, opponents—all financing their opposition with money extracted from super-exploited low-wage workers—tell the usual lies to discourage the people from raising their own wages. They falsely claim that minimum wage raises cause inflation. In fact, the raises are needed because of inflation that has already happened, and truthful economists—the ones that don’t work for corporations—recognize that minimum wage raises always benefit the whole working class by increasing general prosperity. Every raise in the minimum wage that has already happened was accompanied by predictions of economic disaster, and every single time those predictions have proven wrong.
Shopkeepers, restaurateurs, and other small businesses benefit from minimum wage increases, and pay raises in general. Sure, they have to pay their workers a little more, but this effect is entirely overcome by the fact that their customers, who are almost all workers, have more money to spend.
The minimum wage needs be far higher than $18, and we strongly support the efforts of workers and their unions to gain still higher wages. In the meantime, Proposition 32 should be passed because any increase is better than no increase, and a higher minimum provides a basis for further increases later. Please vote YES on Proposition 32.
• Proposition 35: Vote YES—To preserve the Medi-Cal system
Some recent history must be studied to understand why we need to pass Proposition 35. The “tax” referred to in the ballot description is part of the very complicated financing system that had to be put together to operate California’s Medi-Cal system, that provides medical care to many Californians. This financing system certainly should be replaced someday with straightforward single-payer or socialized medicine. But at this point, in order to keep the system going, we need to continue to collect money from one part of the system to finance another part of the system. Failure to pass this proposition would mean that this financing system would collapse in two more years, and do serious damage to health care in California.
The need for this proposition is recognized by health care workers and their unions, by organizations representing patients, and even by the corporations and other organizations that pay the tax. When someone says “Please tax me,” it is wise to listen, because there is probably a good reason. The good reason this time is that this proposition is needed to stave off a disastrous collapse of the Medi-Cal system, and the broader healthcare system in California. Change in our health care system is needed, but let us please make sure the changes are improvements. Please vote YES on Proposition 35.
• Proposition 36: Vote NO—Against longer prison sentences, forced “treatment”
“Fight crime with higher prison sentences.” A simple policy, and one that Californians have fallen for over several decades, ratcheting up penalties without doing a thing to reduce crime. In fact, longer sentences seemed to have many undesirable effects on society, and the people of California passed Proposition 47 in 2014 by an overwhelming vote, cutting most sentences and making rehabilitation efforts more effective. Prosecutors and right-wingers have been complaining ever since, and they have told countless false stories about the effects of Proposition 47.
For example, they claim over and over again that “theft is going unpunished,” and they keep saying this every time there is a spectacular theft. When the thieves receive prison sentences a year later, they don’t say a thing, they just keep repeating that theft is going unpunished. In actual fact, there has been a drop over the past few years in most kinds of crime in California. To respond to this by hiking sentences makes no sense. But it makes sense if you derive financial benefit from mass imprisonment, and clearly some of the proponents of Proposition 36 do. Others are politicians who have no personal concern about crime, but hope to fool the public into supporting them by whipping up public panic over crime. (Both Democrats and Republicans may be found among the sponsors.)
Nothing Proposition 36 would do would benefit the public in any way. Every good thing mentioned in it is already done under current law, and the increases in sentences and forced “treatment” for what are really medical problems would do more damage to our society. We do need improvements in our criminal laws, and we need real rehabilitation efforts. But the provisions in this proposition are not what we need. Please vote NO on Proposition 36.