New Measure Eligible For California's November 2018 Ballot

Authorizes Bonds to Fund Projects for Water Supply and Quality, Watershed, Fish, Wildlife, Water Conveyance, and Groundwater Sustainability and Storage. Initiative Statute.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla recently announced that an initiative is eligible for the November 6, 2018, General Election ballot.

In order to become eligible for the ballot, the initiative needed 365,880 valid petition signatures, which is equal to five percent of the total votes cast for governor in the November 2014 General Election.

An initiative can qualify via random sampling of petition signatures if the sampling projects a number of valid signatures greater than 110 percent of the required number. The initiative needed at least 402,468 projected valid signatures to qualify by random sampling, and it exceeded that threshold today.

On June 28, 2018, the Secretary of State will certify the initiative as qualified for the November 6, 2018 General Election ballot, unless the proponent withdraws the initiative prior to that date pursuant to Elections Code section 9604(b).

The Attorney General's official title and summary of the initiative is as follows:
Authorizes bonds to fund projects for water supply and quality, watershed, fish, wildlife, water conveyance, and groundwater sustainability and storage. Initiative statute. Authorizes $8.877B in state general obligation bonds for various infrastructure projects: $3.03B for safe drinking water and water quality, $2.895B for watershed and fisheries improvements, $940M for habitat protection, $855M for improved water conveyance, $685M for groundwater sustainability/storage, and $472M for surface water storage/dam repairs. Appropriates money from General Fund to pay off bonds. Requires certain projects to provide matching funds from non-state sources; gives priority to disadvantaged communities. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: State costs of $17.3B to pay off principal ($8.9B) and interest ($8.4B) on bonds over a 40-year period. Annual payments would average $433M. Annual payments would be lower than this average in the initial and final few years, and somewhat higher in the intervening years. Varying fiscal effects on individual local governments depending on specific projects undertaken, amount of grants and loans received, and amount of local cost-share required. (17-0010.)

For more information about how an initiative qualifies for the ballot in California, visit http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/ballot-measures/how-qualify-initiative/