The presidential election may be getting the most attention, but there are many key state and local tax and budget related initiatives we’re monitoring at the TaxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. Foundation’s Center for State Fiscal Policy.
The table below lists each initiative and we’ll update this post by filling in the table with the results.
| Result | State & Initiative | For | Against |
|---|---|---|---|
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Arizona Proposition 116 continues reducing the impact of the archaic tangible personal property tax for business equipment acquired after 2013. See here for more on tangible personal property taxes. | 44% | 56% |
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Arizona Proposition 117 limits the growth in assessed valuation of property for tax purposes to 5% per year. | 57% | 43% |
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Arizona Proposition 204 extends a 1 percentage point sales tax increase that is due to expire. | 35% | 65% |
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Arkansas Issue 1 imposes a half-cent sales tax to improve the state highway system. | 58% | 42% |
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California Proposition 30, sponsored by Gov. Jerry Brown, raises the sales tax by a quarter point through 2016 and adds new income tax rates, including raising the top income tax rate from 10.3 percent to 13.3 percent, through 2018. More on Proposition 30 here. | 54% | 46% |
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California Proposition 38, sponsored by activist Molly Munger, increases income taxes nearly across-the-board, taking the top rate from 10.3 percent to 13.5 percent. More on Proposition 38 here. | 28% | 72% |
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California Proposition 39 ends an option for multistate tax apportionment. More on Proposition 39 here. | 60% | 40% |
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Voters in El Monte, California (Measures C & H) and Richmond, California (Measures N & O) are voting on 1 cent per ounce soda tax increases. More on these proposals here. | 23% (El Monte) 33% (Richmond) |
77% (El Monte) 67% (Richmond) |
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Voters in Los Angeles, California (Measure J) are voting to extend a temporary half-cent transportation tax by thirty years. Except the tax currently expires in 2039, so this vote would cover the period 2040-2069. (Needs two-thirds) | 65% | 35% |
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Colorado Amendment 64 legalizes marijuana and instructs the legislature to impose an excise tax on it. | 53% | 47% |
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Florida Amendment 3 imposes a state spending limitation. | 42% | 58% |
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Florida Amendment 4 continues reducing the impact of the archaic tangible personal property tax. See here for more on tangible personal property taxes. | 43% | 57% |
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Illinois HJRCA 49 would require a three-fifths supermajority to increase public employee pension benefits. (Needs three-fifths or 50% of all votes cast.) | 56% | 44% |
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Maryland Question 7 would authorize the construction of one table games casino in the Washington, DC area and reduce the tax rate on existing slots parlors elsewhere in the state. Two of my colleagues debated the pros and cons of Maryland’s gambling expansion back in 2008. | 52% | 48% |
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Michigan Proposal 1 upholds the state’s “emergency manager” law, which allows the Governor to appoint administrators for financially insolvent cities, to restructure their operations and obligations. | 48% | 52% |
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Michigan Proposal 2 would enshrine public and private collective bargaining as a right in the state constitution. | 42% | 58% |
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Michigan Proposal 5 would impose a two-thirds supermajority requirement in the legislature to raise taxes. | 31% | 69% |
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Michigan Proposal 6 would require that voters approve any new bridge to Canada. | 40% | 60% |
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Missouri Proposition B would quintuple the state’s cigarette tax. More on Proposition B here. | 49% | 51% |
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New Hampshire is voting on whether to hold a constitutional convention. | 36% | 65% |
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New Hampshire CACR 13 would create a constitutional ban on an income tax. | 58% | 42% |
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New Jersey Question 2 requires state judges to contribute toward their health and pension benefits. | 83% | 17% |
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North Dakota Measure 1 repeals the state’s poll tax, which has been unconstitutional since the ratification of the U.S. Constitution’s 24th Amendment. | 71% | 29% |
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Ohio Issue 1 would call a state constitutional convention. | 32% | 68% |
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Oklahoma Question 758 would cap state property tax increases to 3 percent per year. | 68% | 32% |
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Oklahoma Question 766 repeals the state’s intangibles tax. | 65% | 35% |
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Oregon Measure 79 bans real estate transfer taxes. | 59% | 41% |
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Oregon Measure 80 legalizes state-licensed cultivation and sale of marijuana, with license revenue going to the state. | 45% | 55% |
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Oregon Measure 82 legalizes gambling and imposes a 25 percent tax on casino gross revenues. | 28% | 72% |
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Oregon Measure 84 repeals the state’s estate tax. | 46% | 54% |
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Oregon Measure 85 repeals the state’s “kicker” corporate income tax refund in times of high revenues. | 59% | 41% |
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Portland, Oregon Measure 26-146 imposes a $35 head tax on all Portland residents over 18 who earn income, with half the money paying for teachers’ salaries, and the other half to fund grants to community arts programs. | 58% | 42% |
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South Dakota Measure 15 would raise the state sales tax by 1 percentage point to fund schools and Medicaid. | 43% | 57% |
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Washington Initiative 502 legalizes marijuana, presumably with an excise tax. | 55% | 45% |
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Washington Initiative 1185 reaffirms, yet again, a two-thirds legislative supermajority requirement for new taxes. Voters have repeatedly approved this supermajority requirement – four times in the last twenty years (1993, 1998, 2007, 2010), but legislators keep repealing it. | 65% | 35% |