Across the Bay Area and California, voters have turned to citizen initiatives to fund some of our most critical needs.
Proposition 43 would make it much more difficult for Bay Area communities to fund the things we need to thrive: measures to build affordable housing, to protect our open spaces, and to fund the transit systems that keep our region moving, by raising the threshold for citizen-initiated local special tax measures from a simple majority to two-thirds. Greenbelt Alliance strongly opposes Prop 43. Learn more about the campaign here.
Under Prop 43, passing these measures would require a whopping 66.67% supermajority of the vote instead of the regular 50% + 1. A minority of voters could block investments that most of their neighbors support, including efforts to conserve open space, protect farmland, and expand our public transit systems, among others.
Recent examples show the importance of keeping special tax measures accessible. Consider Measure D in Santa Clara County, for example, which funds the protection and restoration of waterways and open spaces. Or, the regional transit measure, Connect Bay Area, or Measure H in San Francisco, which funds MUNI, and the recently approved Sonoma-Marin transit measure. In each case, people took funding for the places and services they rely on directly to the ballot.
California already has significant voter protections around local taxes. We should not make it even harder for communities to fund the parks, trails, and open spaces they value or the affordable housing, transit systems, and safer streets they need. If a majority of voters support a locally proposed measure, a minority should not be able to veto it.
Local voters should have the power to decide how to invest in their communities. Greenbelt Alliance urges voters in California to say No on Prop 43.
