Here is Artists At War's take on the California State Ballot Initiatives. We put this together because CA's ballot initiatives are always thrown at us like a handful of mud--lots of confusing questions to ponder. Yet they are hardly trivial matters. This year's batch contains 4 constitutional amendments that are far-reaching and almost impossible to undo.
Please feel free to print this guide and bring it with you to the polls. Take your time (by law we are allowed 1 hour off of work), and do the right thing.
1A - Hi-speed Electric Rail
YES. Will provide an investment in 21st-century infrastructure, lots of jobs, and a great way to travel between SF & LA.
2 - Farm Animals
YES. It's bad enough that we're going to kill chickens and eat their tasty flesh. So let's let them have a little space to enjoy their short lives.
3 - Children's Hospitals
YES-ish. On the face of it, increasing funding to children's' hospitals sounds good. But I feel like this bill plays inside baseball with a lot of money, and we have no real idea how this industry works.
4 - Abortion Notification (Constitutional Amendment)
NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT.
5 - Drug Treatment
YES. We're killing ourselves, sending drug users to jail. It costs around $30,000 to incarcerate a person for a year. I'm sure it costs much less to get someone to kick the habit.
6 - Police Funding
NO! Moves law enforcement $ from the community to the police. I don't think the police are very accountable for their actions.
7 - Renewable Energy
NO. Pushes small companies in the renewable energy industry out of business. Send this back to the drawing board. In the coming years, there will be lots of legislation over energy and global warming. We need to be smart, and decipher GREEN vs. GREENWASHING!
8 - Ban on Gay Marriage (Constitutional Amendment)
NO. The law should be equal for all people.
9 - Victim's Rights (Constitutional Amendment)
NO. Builds more jails, throws away the key.
10 - Alternative Fuel Vehicles
NO. Again, this is a GREENWASH bill, that'll give tons of $ to a few companies.
11 - Redistricting (Constitutional Amendment)
NO. Deciding election districts will always be a dirty scrum, but this bill will concentrate the power of the Governor and a few select people to decide.
12 - Housing for Veterans
YES. The way vets get screwed over when fighting unpopular wars, we need to give them something.
Please feel free to print this guide and bring it with you to the polls. Take your time (by law we are allowed 1 hour off of work), and do the right thing.
1A - Hi-speed Electric Rail
YES. Will provide an investment in 21st-century infrastructure, lots of jobs, and a great way to travel between SF & LA.
2 - Farm Animals
YES. It's bad enough that we're going to kill chickens and eat their tasty flesh. So let's let them have a little space to enjoy their short lives.
3 - Children's Hospitals
YES-ish. On the face of it, increasing funding to children's' hospitals sounds good. But I feel like this bill plays inside baseball with a lot of money, and we have no real idea how this industry works.
4 - Abortion Notification (Constitutional Amendment)
NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT.
5 - Drug Treatment
YES. We're killing ourselves, sending drug users to jail. It costs around $30,000 to incarcerate a person for a year. I'm sure it costs much less to get someone to kick the habit.
6 - Police Funding
NO! Moves law enforcement $ from the community to the police. I don't think the police are very accountable for their actions.
7 - Renewable Energy
NO. Pushes small companies in the renewable energy industry out of business. Send this back to the drawing board. In the coming years, there will be lots of legislation over energy and global warming. We need to be smart, and decipher GREEN vs. GREENWASHING!
8 - Ban on Gay Marriage (Constitutional Amendment)
NO. The law should be equal for all people.
9 - Victim's Rights (Constitutional Amendment)
NO. Builds more jails, throws away the key.
10 - Alternative Fuel Vehicles
NO. Again, this is a GREENWASH bill, that'll give tons of $ to a few companies.
11 - Redistricting (Constitutional Amendment)
NO. Deciding election districts will always be a dirty scrum, but this bill will concentrate the power of the Governor and a few select people to decide.
12 - Housing for Veterans
YES. The way vets get screwed over when fighting unpopular wars, we need to give them something.
