Newswire
A program boosting services that help seniors get around Marin was embraced by county transit officials this week, but funding for improvements could hinge on voter approval of higher vehicle registration taxes. Plans under review by the Transportation Authority of Marin could result in a ballot measure this fall calling for a $10 hike in vehicle fees, and county transit officials informally agreed Monday that some of that money should be used to increase transportation services for seniors.
In a deal they say will financially benefit the cash-strapped city and their industry, Santa Rosa’s hoteliers are offering to tack a 3 percent fee onto their daily room rates. The move is expected to generate $1 million a year for the city. There is one major string attached, however. That $1 million would be redirected to the Santa Rosa Convention & Visitors Bureau, where it would be used to promote the city’s lodging industry, attract conventions and fund events like the Tour of California.
Running schools in Oregon is one of the state’s big financial responsibilities. Building them is not. That could change under a ballot measure voters will see in May. Rob Manning reports on the constitutional change suggested in Ballot Measure 68. Oregon is full of schools in need of major repairs. Many could use 21st century electrical systems and energy upgrades.
The Fair Map Amendment proposal touted by supporters as an anti-corruption tool is falling way short in its quest to get on the November ballot with a deadline fast approaching. The proposed citizen initiative has garnered more than 120,000 petition signatures to get it on the ballot, but that is less than 50 percent of the 288,000-signature threshold. Supporters of the amendment had hoped to finish the petition drive by April 1, but that deadline has come and gone.
Republican lawmakers drove a proposed constitutional amendment through a House council Thursday, saying the measure is needed to expand on a pair of Democratic-backed redistricting proposals already set for the November ballot. But Democrats said the real intent of the late-developing measure is to confuse voters who polls show are expected to support the FairDistricts Florida amendments set to go before voters this fall. Amendments 4 and 5 ask voters to bar legislators from drawing legislative or congressional district lines that benefit political parties or incumbent lawmakers.
Unable to win in the Legislature, the state building industry is launching a ballot campaign to bring private insurers into Washington’s state-run workers’ compensation system for the first time. The Democratic-controlled Legislature flatly rejected several business groups’ proposals to change the system during the just-concluded legislative session. The Initiative 1082 effort sets up a ballot-box fight with the state’s influential labor interests in an election year for most legislative seats.
A plan to charge California motorists $18 a year to shore up the state parks system’s financial troubles took another step toward the November ballot on Monday when environmental groups submitted about 760,000 signatures to the state. Under state law, the campaign needs 433,931 valid signatures of registered California voters to qualify the initiative. Elections officials have until June 24 to certify the measure.
Alaskans can find out who’s financing ballot initiative organizers far sooner under a bill the Legislature passed late Sunday. Rep. Kyle Johansen’s bill now goes to Gov. Sean Parnell. The Ketchikan Republican says past initiative campaigns had been heavily financed by out-of-state interests. They didn’t have to report their finances until after the question had been certified for the ballot.
A move to privatize liquor sales got no traction in the Legislature this year, but voters might get a chance to change the law on their own. State elections officials expect two initiatives related to liquor sales to be filed Friday, according to David Ammons, a spokesman in the Secretary of State’s office. The sponsors of the initiatives are not yet known. But a representative of a grocery industry group said Thursday that her organization has been contacted about a possible ballot measure to get liquor sales out of state hands and into private stores.
The committee working to get the issue of a second landfill on the ballot in November turned in their signatures to the Humboldt County Clerk’s Office on Wednesday. The committee needed 852 signatures but collected 1294 — just to be on the safe side. If ultimately included on the ballot, the voters would have an opportunity to decide whether or not they want to limit the amount of garbage that could be imported to a second landfill within the county.