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AP20:092

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2020
CONTACT:
SOS Press Office
(916) 653-6575

Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation

Allows Local Governments to Override State Land-Use and Zoning Laws. Requires State Funding for County Highways, Housing, And Courts. Changes Where Some Inmates Are Housed. Initiative Constitutional and Statutory Amendment.

SACRAMENTO, CA – Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced that the proponents of a new initiative were cleared to begin collecting petition signatures yesterday.

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponents and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponents and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

ALLOWS LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO OVERRIDE STATE LAND-USE AND ZONING LAWS. REQUIRES STATE FUNDING FOR COUNTY HIGHWAYS, HOUSING, AND COURTS. CHANGES WHERE SOME INMATES ARE HOUSED. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY AMENDMENT. Allows city and county land-use and zoning laws to override conflicting state laws. Requires Legislature to fund county highway construction and maintenance, housing infrastructure, and superior courts, as requested by county governments. Requires adequate superior court staffing to ensure adequate court services. Requires state prisons to house certain felons currently housed in jails if the county sheriff certifies that the county jails have reached maximum capacity. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Unknown, potentially significant increase in state costs because the state would assume financial responsibility over some local government services and/or costs. Unknown net decrease in local government costs associated with city and county costs that would shift to the state and some offsetting new costs. (20-0002.)

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1893 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 20-0002.

The proponents of the measure, Arnold Ruiz and Richard L. Hendrickson, must collect signatures of 997,139 registered voters (eight percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2018 general election) in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than March 29, 2021. The did not provide any contact information. The address for the proponent is 552 Sandercock Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401.

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