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It took me a few seconds to learn there are two kinds of ballot initiatives in CA. They can have the force of statutes or constitutional amendments. Prop 22 w
by IncRnd 5y ago
It took me a few seconds to learn there are two kinds of ballot initiatives in CA. They can have the force of statutes or constitutional amendments. Prop 22 was written to be a statute, so of course it couldn't override the state constitution. Whoever wrote it made a huge mistake.
"Citizens of California may initiate legislation as either a state statute or a constitutional amendment. In California, citizens also have the power to repeal legislation via veto referendum. The California State Legislature may also place measures on the ballot as legislatively referred constitutional amendments or legislatively referred state statutes. Referred amendments require a 2/3 vote of each chamber." [1]
From the article: "it limits the power of a future Legislature to define app-based drivers as workers subject to workers’ compensation law." That makes the entire ballot measure unenforceable, Roesch said.
[1] https://ballotpedia.org/Laws_governing_the_initiative_process_in_California https://ballotpedia.org/Laws_governing_the_initiative_proces...
- JumpCrisscross 5y agoDon't statutory ballots require a majority, while constitutional ballots call for a supermajority? This was a close fight. The decision may not have been, ex ante, as unreasonable as you suggest.
- IncRnd 5y agoThe fight isn't the issue I referenced, not fully. A statute cannot change the constitution and alter voting requirements of the legislature. That is what this attempted. As you mentioned, a different threshold is required in order to pass an amendment or a statute. The author wanted the benefits of an amendment but to pass it by meeting the requirements for a statute.
- lmkg 5y agoNope. Constitutional amendments proposed by voters require simple majority to pass, 50% + 1. That is, imho, the single largest flaw in California's initiative process (which I'm otherwise generally a fan of).
- IncRnd 5y agoThere are different signature requirements between the two types. Separately, California no longer has indirect initiatives, which other states have. These force the legislature to vote on a topic.
- gruez 5y ago>From the article: "it limits the power of a future Legislature to define app-based drivers as workers subject to workers’ compensation law." That makes the entire ballot measure unenforceable, Roesch said. Why? AFAIK the courts usually strike down the parts that are illegal, not the entire thing.
- stefan_ 5y agoBecause ballots are single subject and having parts stricken can render the whole thing nonsensical considering how it was presented to voters? In any case, ballots can specify that some sections are severable. It didn't for one of the two judged unconstitutional and so the whole thing goes.
- SpicyLemonZest 5y agoOne of the parts that got struck down (Section 7451) was specifically defined by the text of Prop 22 as non-severable, meaning that the whole thing should be struck down if that section is. Why it was written that way, I'm not sure.
- gumby 5y agoThey can only strike down sections of a law if the law has been structured that way. You e probably seen such language in contracts as well, along the lines of “if any part of this contract is found to be unenforceable that doesn’t affect the rest of the contract.”