Besides having to vote for the president of the United States, those in California had to decide on several propositions for the state. Along with the announcement of President Barack Obama's second term win, the results of the California propositions were revealed as the election continued.
*Please note that these results were reported by the Secretary of State as of 8:03 a.m. and there may be some slight changes*
Proposition 30, one of the most important propositions on the ballot was approved, Under Prop. 30, Gov. Jerry Brown plans to raise income taxes on the wealthy and to raise state sales tax to fund schools. Taxes will be increased on earnings over $250,000 for seven years and sales taxes will increase by a quarter of a cent for four years.
If this measure did not pass, public schools would have lost millions of dollars and would have had to cut the school year short. College tuition would have been raised as well. With the approval of Prop. 30, public schools will have an an extra $6 billion annually.
Proposition 35, which increases prison sentences and fines for human trafficking convictions, also passed. Human traffickers will now have to register as sex offenders and must disclose their Internet activity and identities. Prison sentences will increase from eight years to 12 years to life under the new measure. Fines will reach as high as $1.5 million.
Proposition 36 has also passed. This amends the "three strikes" law. With this, judges can only impose a life sentence when the third felony conviction is serious or violent.
Proposition 39, which required multistate businesses to pay income taxes based on percentage of their sales in California. This puts an end to a loophole that businesses use to pay less taxes . Eliminating this loophole will bring in about a billion dollars annually.
Finally, Proposition 40 was also passed. Under this measure, there will be new State Senate district lines. These lines will be drawn by the Citizens Redistricting Commission. Approval of this proposition has no fiscal impact, but rejecting it would have cost the state a million dollars.
Several propositions were also rejected.
Proposition 31, which would have reformed the state legislature's budget process, was rejected.
Proposition 32 was also rejected. This measure would have put limits on union campaign contributions and stopped them from using payroll-deducted funds towards political purposes.
Proposition 33, which would have allowed auto insurance companies to create prices based on whether a driver had insurance with any other company, was rejected. New customers will not get a discount if they switch their insurance provider.
Proposition 34, which focused on the death penalty, was also rejected. Under this proposition, the death penalty would have been thrown out and replaced with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The death penalty will continue to be used in the state.
Proposition 37, which would have required genetically-engineered foods to be labeled, was also rejected.
Finally, Proposition 38, which would have increased personal income tax rates on a sliding scale for 12 years, was also rejected. Income tax levels will remain the same, but public schools will miss out on an extra $10 million.
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