By Chris Finnie
When I first started voting, I was told that ballot propositions were an opportunity for voters to have their say in the legislative process. While that’s still possible, the process was taken over by big money years ago.
These have ranged from billionaire Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens trying to get $5 billion in taxpayer-funded bonds to help Californians buy natural gas vehicles who would use his natural gas filling stations—to Mercury Insurance trying to overturn a state law that requires car insurance companies to base premiums on a driver’s safety record.
This November, it’s about lead paint
The Los Angeles Times calls the so-called Healthy Homes and Schools Act “a misleading, self-serving ballot initiative bankrolled by special interests.”
The initiative is backed by three paint companies that recently lost a long legal fight over lead in their paints. State courts found the companies marketed lead paint as safe, even though they knew it was dangerous, especially for children. The ruling says the companies have to pay to remove lead paint from older homes in ten jurisdictions that filed the lawsuit. The total cost is likely to reach hundreds of millions of dollars.
Their Healthy Homes and Schools Act has enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot—and promises to provide funding to clean up environmental hazards in homes and schools. The state would borrow $2 billion to pay for the removal of lead, mold, asbestos, and other hazardous materials. The actual cost to taxpayers, after paying interest on the bonds, would be nearly $4 billion.
This shifts the cost of removing lead paint to the taxpayers—instead of the paint companies. The fine print is worse: The initiative declares that lead paint is not a public nuisance, even though the court found that it was. That would effectively reverse the court decision and eliminate the obligation for paint companies to pay for lead removal. It would also prevent other communities from suing paint companies in the future.
How to know if you’re being duped
After learning about this corporate takeover, I’ve done more work to learn who’s supporting propositions, and why. I always read the legislative analyst’s report. That often exposes possible costs to the state—such as the $4 billion this proposition would cost California taxpayers. I then read the arguments for and against the proposition, and notice who writes them–though deceptive “friends of” names sometimes mask that.
But the Secretary of State has a website that lets you see who’s funding the initiative: www.sos.ca.gov/campaign-lobbying/cal-access-resources/measure-contributions
If you see big backing by a company or companies that stand to profit from the proposition, it’s probably a well-funded con. I suggest you vote NO!
As paint deteriorates, it flakes, chips, and turns to dust. Swallowing even small amounts of lead can cause permanent brain damage in young children, leading to lifelong learning disabilities and behavioral problems.