California Proposition 72, Taxes and Tax Usage Initiative (June 1988)

California Proposition 72
Election date June 7, 1988
Topic Taxes
Status Defeated
Type Initiated constitutional amendment	Origin Citizens

California Proposition 72 was on the ballot as an initiated constitutional amendment in California on June 7, 1988. It was defeated.

A “yes” vote supported establishing the manner in which certain taxes are treated for limit purposes, requiring that the sales tax for motor vehicle fuel is used only for road purposes, and requiring the state to create a reserve with 3% of general fund expenditures.

A “no” vote opposed establishing the manner in which certain taxes are treated for limit purposes, requiring that the sales tax for motor vehicle fuel is used only for road purposes, and requiring the state to create a reserve with 3% of general fund expenditures.

Election results

California Proposition 72
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		2,046,358	38.53%
No		3,264,653	61.47%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Proposition 72 was as follows:

“

Emergency Reserve. Dedication Of Certain Taxes To Transportation. Appropriation Limit Change.

”

Ballot summary

The ballot summary for this measure was:

“

EMERGENCY RESERVE. DEDICATION OF CERTAIN TAXES TO TRANSPORTATION. APPROPRIATION LIMIT CHANGE. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Requires three percent of total state General Fund budget be included in reserve for emergencies and economic uncertainties. Provides net revenues derived from state sales and use taxes on motor vehicle fuels be used only for public streets, highways, and mass transit guideways (Three-year phase-in.) Requires two-thirds vote of Legislature or majority vote of voters before taxes on motor vehicle fuels may be raised. Reserve and fuel tax revenues excluded from appropriation limit. Prohibits Legislature from lowering local sales tax rates in effect January 1, 1987. Summary of Legislative Analyst's estimate of net state and local government fiscal impact: Measure has two major fiscal effects. First, changes in state's appropriation limit will result in increased state appropriations authority of up to $1.6 billion in 1988-89, $1.5 billion in 1989-90, and slightly larger amounts in future years. As a result, the state may be able to spend or retain tax proceeds which otherwise would be returned to the taxpayers. State's ability to appropriate additional funds as a result of increased state limit is dependent on receipt of sufficient revenue. Based on estimates contained in Governor's Budget, state revenues will not be sufficient in 1988-89 to fund any additional appropriations allowed by this measure. In future years, economy's performance will determine whether and to what extent state revenues will be available to fund such additional appropriations. Second, the requirement that certain sales tax revenues be expended only for transportation purposes results in an increase in the amount of revenues available for transportation purposes while reducing the amount available for education, health, welfare and other General Fund expenditures. This shift in funding will amount to about $200 million in 1988-89, about $430 million in 1989-90, and about $725 million in 1990-91, and increasing amounts thereafter.

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Signature requirements for ballot measures in California

In California, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast at the preceding gubernatorial election. For initiated amendments filed in 1988, at least 595,485 valid signatures were required.

See also

1988 Measures

• 1988 Measures
• Taxes on the ballot
• 1988 legislative sessions

California

• California ballot measures
• California ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• California Voter Guide (June 1988)