By Patrick R. Potyondy
National attention may be focused on the New Jersey and Virginia governors’ races, but legislative races are big, too—and so is the 2017 batch of ballot measures.
While there are many fewer ballot measures nationally in 2017 than last year, there is still plenty to catch our attention in this off-year election round.
Twenty-seven ballot measures will be voted on across nine states. In these uncertain political times, that’s remarkably like the numbers seen in previous recent off-years. In 2015, there were 28 items; in 2013, there were 26; and in 2011, a total of 34.
Only four of this year’s measures are citizens initiatives, put on the ballot by groups who have gathered signatures. The vast majority of statewide ballot measures—20 in fact—are legislative referendums, sent to the voters by their state legislature. As expected, legislatures are driving much of the nation’s public policy. The final three measures are nonbinding advisory votes in Washington state.
Of the 27 measures, most are constitutional amendments—as opposed to statutory changes—clocking in at 18 total.
A few of the citizens initiatives stand out. Two of these focus on major health care policy changes, one in Maine the other in Ohio. Maine’s Question 2 would expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. “This is a citizen sponsored ballot initiative,” notes Lisa Waugh, program principal in NCSL's Health Program. “It started only after the legislature had passed Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act five times, and Governor Paul LePage vetoed it five times.” Mainers for Health Care are supporting the initiative while The Welfare to Work PAC opposes the initiative. If the voters vote “yes,” it would then provide Medicaid through MaineCare for people under the age of 65 and with incomes equal to or below 138 percent of the official poverty line. Maine is one of 19 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the ACA.
The other health care citizens initiative, from Ohio, also a citizens initiative, seeks to control prescription drug costs. If passed, Ohio Issue 2 would require that the state-funded health programs including Medicaid, health care in correctional facilities and state employee and retiree health plans, pay no more than the lowest price paid by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). “The VA currently pays significantly discounted prices for prescription drugs, a rate that is set at 24 percent below a nonfederal benchmark,” says Richard Cauchi, an NCSL Health Program director.
Medicaid currently pays a separately established discounted price that includes a 23 percent discount. Actual prices are confidential and proprietary, so state savings are difficult to calculate. The ballot question also provides that individual petitioners—in fact, those championing the initiative—would have a right to sue in any legal challenge that seeks to invalidate the law if it is approved, with the state of Ohio covering certain costs of such court cases.
Ohio voters will also weigh in on a major criminal justice constitutional amendment. Advocates for what is known nationally as “Marsy’s Law” are pushing to pass a constitutional amendment in that state. This measure would change and add constitutional language requiring, among other things, the state to notify victims of crimes of all court proceedings, to allow them to be present and to speak in court, to gain protection from the accused, and to be notified of the escape of the accused or convicted offender.
“Most states have constitutionally protected rights for crime victims,” notes Sarah Brown, director of NCSL’s Criminal Justice Program. “Marsy’s Law, first passed in California in 2008, seeks to amend state constitutions that don’t offer protections to crime victims and, eventually, the U.S. Constitution to give victims of crime rights equal to those already afforded to the accused and convicted.” The effort in Ohio is part of a renewed push on the topic.
Marsy’s Law has already been enacted in California, Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. In addition to Ohio, efforts are also currently underway in Kentucky, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Idaho, Oklahoma and Maine.
Maine voters will also decide whether or not to allow slot machines and a casino in York County, near the New Hampshire border. That proximity signals the competition that states are engaging in over gambling revenue. “State gambling expansion is a trend,” says Jackson Brainerd, a policy associate in NCSL's Fiscal Affairs Program. “Since 2001, casino gambling of some sort has spread from nine to 24 states. In the last nine years, six states have legalized casino operations and two have legalized racinos,” referring to racetracks combined with casinos.
In addition to Maine, 10 other states have considered legalizing or expanding casino gambling in 2017, although only Connecticut has enacted legislation. But all is not clear-cut for this brand of legislation. Although total gambling revenue has remained flat, the haul for various states has varied. For instance, while Indiana’s fell $700 million from 2010 to 2015, Ohio’s increased $1.6 billion in 2015 alone.
For other details and results after election day of all 27 of the 2017 state ballot measures, please visit NCSL’s Ballot Measure Database.
Patrick Potyondy is a legislative policy specialist and Mellon-ACLS public fellow in NCSL’s Elections and Redistricting Program.
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