State Legislatures Magazine: December 2000

Editor's Note: This article appeared in the December 2000 issue of NCSL's magazine, State Legislatures. To order copies or to subscribe, contact the marketing department at (303) 364-7700.

A Smorgasbord of Ballot Measures

Taxes
Education
Tobacco Settlement Revenues
Drug Policy
Animal Rights
Gun Control
Health Care
Gay Rights
Gaming
Legislatures
Redistricting
Campaign Finance Reform

A Smorgasbord of Ballot Measures

Voters in 42 states considered a total of 204 ballot measures on Election Day. Those approved ran the gamut from tax and campaign limits to gun control and animal rights.

By Jennie Drage

Voters in 42 states considered a total of 204 ballot measures on Election Day 2000. About 63 percent of these passed. Of the 71 citizen-initiated measures, about 48 percent received voter approval. That's slightly higher than the historical average passage rate of about 40 percent, but lower than the 60 percent rate we saw in 1998. Here's a rundown of how some of the key issues played out across the country.

TAXES
Tax cuts, a favorite subject of the initiative process ever since the passage of California's Proposition 13 in 1978, were not so successful this year. Major proposals in Colorado and Oregon failed. Colorado's Amendment 21, whose sponsor Douglas Bruce has successfully used the initiative process to cut Colorado taxes for a decade, would have cut property, income, utility and vehicle taxes each by $25 per year until the tax was gone. It was killed by 66 percent of the voters. Bill Sizemore has also become known for his use of the initiative to cut taxes in Oregon. His Measure 91 would have allowed an unlimited deduction on state income taxes for federal taxes paid, and Measure 93 would have required voter approval for most tax and fee increases. It died with 45 percent of the voters for it and 55 percent opposed.

Another anti-tax activist, Washington's Tim Eyman, was more successful. His Initiative 722 passed, requiring state and local governments to refund tax and fee increases that were passed in December 1999. It also limits future property tax increases.

Other property tax limits had mixed results, with Alaska voters defeating one, but Arkansas voters approving another. Property tax relief for senior citizens passed in Arizona, Colorado and Georgia. Montana and South Dakota voters repealed their states' inheritance taxes. Massachusetts voters decided on three tax measures. They passed an income tax rate reduction and a deduction for charitable contributions, but defeated a tax credit for highway tolls.

EDUCATION
Education was another big subject on the ballot this year. Generally speaking, school choice measures failed, while school funding measures fared better.

Voucher programs were soundly defeated in both California and Michigan, as was Washington's charter school measure.

Arizona increased its sales tax by 0.6 percent for education. Colorado voted to require that per pupil spending increase by the rate of inflation plus one percentage point for the next 10 years. However, Colorado voters defeated a second measure dedicating excess state revenue to math and science grants for public schools. Washington and Virginia decided to dedicate the revenues from their existing state lottery to education, while South Carolina voters approved creating a new state lottery and dedicating its revenues to education. New Mexico, North Carolina and Rhode Island passed school funding bond measures. Oregon passed a measure requiring that the legislature fund public schools adequately to meet certain goals.

In other education measures, Arizona followed California's 1998 move to ban bilingual education, and Oregon voted against tying teacher pay to job performance.

TOBACCO SETTLEMENT REVENUES
In a new trend this year, several states considered how to appropriate funds received from the historic tobacco settlement. Arizona voters expanded health insurance to uninsured families and funding for children's health care. Another measure provides health insurance for state residents whose income falls below the federal poverty level. Tobacco settlement revenues will pay for the former measure while the Legislature will have to find a way to fund the latter.

Arkansas, Montana and Oklahoma also voted to dedicate their share of tobacco settlement money to health care. Utah voters agreed to create a trust fund and let the Legislature decide how to spend it. The only state in which a tobacco measure failed was Oregon, where voters defeated not one but two competing measures on how to allocate the funds.

DRUG POLICY
Colorado and Nevada both approved the medical use of marijuana, bringing the total number of states with similar laws to eight. Alaskans defeated a measure that would have broadly legalized the use of marijuana.

Measures mandating treatment instead of incarceration for drug possession and use passed in California, but failed in Massachusetts. Laws that make it more difficult for law enforcement to seize property used in a crime were passed in Oregon and Utah.

ANIMAL RIGHTS
Alaska voters stopped the Legislature's attempt to remove the right to change wildlife regulations via the initiative. They also rejected the Legislature's attempt to reinstate land-and-shoot wolf hunting, which they had voted to ban in a 1996 initiative. Massachusetts voters rejected an initiative which would have banned greyhound racing. Oregon voters rejected a ban on trapping, poisoning, and fur commerce. Washington voters passed a ban on trapping and poisoning.

GUN CONTROL
Colorado and Oregon passed measures requiring background checks at gun shows. Both states have experienced school shootings in the last two years.

HEALTH CARE
Colorado's measure to require a 24-hour waiting period before a woman can get an abortion failed. Physician-assisted suicide failed in Maine, as did a massive health care reform proposal in Massachusetts. Oregon passed a measure creating a commission to monitor the quality of home care services for the elderly and disabled.

GAY RIGHTS
Results were mixed for the four measures around the country dealing with gay rights. Bans on gay marriage passed in Nebraska and Nevada. Nebraska's goes further: It also refuses to recognize a gay marriage which may be valid in another state. A measure in Maine, which would have prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, failed. Oregon's initiative to ban any mention of homosexuality in public schools failed.

GAMING
Results on gaming measures also were mixed. Arkansas voters declined to establish a state lottery and permit casinos. A Maine initiative permitting video lottery also failed. Voters passed a constitutional amendment to permit multistate lotteries in Colorado; a Massachusetts measure which would have banned greyhound racing failed; South Carolina now has a state lottery; and South Dakota voters agreed to raise the maximum bet limit in their casinos from $5 to $100 but refused to ban video lottery.

LEGISLATURES
Kentucky voters approved a measure establishing annual sessions for their legislature. Voters defeated a similar measure three times before, most recently in 1998. The legislature, which normally meets only in even years, will now meet in odd years, too. The first odd-year session will begin in January 2001.

Nebraska legislators will be limited to two consecutive terms beginning in 2008. This is the fourth time Nebraska voters have approved term limits-they were invalidated by the courts the first three times. Nebraska becomes the 19th state with term limits for legislators.

REDISTRICTING
Arizona voters decided to take redistricting out of the hands of the Legislature and give it to a newly created, nonpartisan, redistricting commission. Colorado voted to give its reapportionment commission more time to get the job done by permitting it to get started on April 15 instead of July 1. Massachusetts changed the timing for redistricting-new districts will now take effect for the 2002 elections, rather than the 2004 elections.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
California voters approved Proposition 39, a legislative referendum that establishes limits on campaign contributions. The limits range from $3,000 for legislative candidates to $20,000 for gubernatorial candidates. California was one of only six states with no limits on campaign contributions.

"Clean elections" public financing failed in Missouri, but passed in Oregon. Clean elections laws have been passed in the last four years in Maine, Vermont, Arizona and Massachusetts. Candidates who opt into the system receive grants from the state to fund their elections. In return, they must agree to abide by spending limits and not to accept any private contributions. Like California, Oregon had no limits on contributions to candidates before this measure passed.

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