California 2004 ballot propositions

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Twenty (20) statewide ballot propositions were on the California ballot in 2004. Four were on the March 2 primary ballot and 16 were on the November 2 general election ballot. Of the four measures on the March 2 ballot, three were approved and one was defeated. Of the 16 measures on the November 2 ballot, nine measures were approved and seven were defeated.

Of the 20 measures, seven were legislative referrals, 12 were initiatives, and one was a veto referendum. Of the 12 initiatives, seven were amendments to the California Constitution and five were initiated state statutes.

On the ballot

March 2

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
BI	Proposition 55	Bonds	Issues $12.3 billion in bonds for school and college facilities	a
CICA/SS	Proposition 56	State spending	Decreases legislative vote needed to pass state budget from 2/3 to 55%	d
BI	Proposition 57	Bonds	Issues $15 billion in bonds for the state government's deficit	a
LRCA	Proposition 58	State spending	Requires the passage of balanced budgets	a

November 2

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Proposition 1A	State budget	Adds language to constitution stating that local property and sales tax revenue is to remain with local governments	a
LRCA	Proposition 59	Admin of gov't	Creates a state constitutional right to public information and access to public meetings	a
LRCA	Proposition 60	Elections	Creates a state constitutional right for political parties that participated in primaries to participate in general elections	a
LRCA	Proposition 60A	Admin of gov't	Dedicates revenue from government property surplus sales to paying for Proposition 57	a
CISS	Proposition 61	Bonds	Issues $750 million bonds for children's hospitals	a
CICA/SS	Proposition 62	Elections	Adopts a top-two primary systems	d
CISS	Proposition 63	Tax increase	Adopts a 1% tax on income above $1 million for mental healthcare services	a
CISS	Proposition 64	Business regulation	Changes the rules governing California's Unfair Competition Law	a
CICA	Proposition 65	State budget	Requires voter approval of legislation that decreases local governments' revenues from the state from specific taxes	d
CISS	Proposition 66	Law enforcement	Amends the state's three-strikes criminal sentencing law to reduce the number of crimes for which someone can be sentenced for lifes	d
CICA/SS	Proposition 67	Taxes	Creates a 3% surcharge on telephone calls to provide emergency medical services funding	d
CICA/SS	Proposition 68	Gambling	Creates scenarios for tribal gaming compacts and non-tribal gaming	d
CISS	Proposition 69	Law enforcement	Requires that DNA be collected from persons convicted of felonies and submitted to a state database	a
CICA/SS	Proposition 70	Gambling	Requires governor to execute American Indian tribe gaming compacts	d
CICA/SS	Proposition 71	Stem cells	Establishes a constitutional right to conduct stem cell research, creates the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), and issues a $3.00 billion bond to fund CIRM	a
VR	Proposition 72	Healthcare	Requires employer contributions to healthcare insurance	d

Getting measures on the ballot

Legislative referrals

The California State Legislature may refer constitutional amendments to the ballot with a two-thirds (66.67%) vote in each chamber.

The legislature can refer statutes and bond issues with a simple majority vote, but the governor's signature is also required.

In California, changes to voter-approved ballot initiatives need to be referred to voters for approval or rejection unless the changes further the initiative's purpose.

Initiatives

See also: Signature requirements for ballot measures in California

The number of valid signatures for citizen-initiated measures in California are based on the votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial election, which are held every four years. Initiated constitutional amendments require 8% of that total while initiated state statutes and veto referendums require 5%. The requirements for each type in 2004 were as follows:

• Initiated constitutional amendment (ICA): 598,105
• Initiated state statute (ISS): 373,816
• Veto referendum (VR): 373,816

Historical facts

As of the end of 2004, a cumulative total of 293 citizen initiatives (counting citizen-initiated constitutional amendments and citizen-initiated state statutes and not counting veto referenda) had appeared on California ballots since the first initiatives in 1912.

See also

• 2004 ballot measures
• List of California ballot propositions
• History of Initiative and Referendum in California
• Laws governing I&R in California
• List of California ballot propositions
• Laws governing ballot measures in California

External links

• California Secretary of State
• California State Legislature
• Official declaration of March 2, 2004 vote
• Detailed vote results for the March 2004 propositions Broken down by county
• Official declaration of the November 2, 2004 ballot proposition votes
• Detailed vote results for the November 2004 ballot propositions
• November 2004 election results from the California Secretary of State
• Spending on 2004 California ballot measures
• PDF of the mailed March 2, 2004 voter guide for Propositions 55 and 56
• PDF of the mailed March 2, 2004 voter guide for Propositions 57 and 58
• PDF of the mailed November 2, 2004 voter guide for Propositions 1A and 65
• PDF of the mailed November 2, 2004 voter guide for Propositions 59, 60, 60A, 61-64, 66-72