VOSD Podcast: The Taxes That Define Us

Three propositions on the November ballot could change everything across the state of California.

This week on the VOSD Podcast, hosts Scott Lewis, Andrea Lopez-Villafaña and Jakob McWhinney discuss three props that are having direct conversations with each other. They’re all about taxes — and how hard it should be for voters to pass them.

Meet ACA 1. It’s a constitutional amendment that says if you want to build stuff like a stadium, roads and parks, you must must get 55 percent of the vote to pass.

Meet the Taxpayer Protection Act. This one says if you want to raise a special tax — no matter what it’s for — it must secure two-thirds of the vote to pass.

This one also seeks to undo taxes that were passed in the last couple years that failed to meet that mark. It’s the yin to ACA 1’s yang. (There’s a lot of other things wrapped up in this one but that’s the gist for you skimmers.)

Meet ACA 13. This one says if you want to change the threshold of what it takes for voters to pass a prop, yours must meet that same threshold. This, as McWhinney put it, is like a subtweet to the Taxpayer Protection Act, saying, “If you want to make props work harder, you have to work just as hard.”

It’s a fascinating moment when three state props are battling each other. But victory is an illusion. If they all pass, as Lewis explains in this week’s show, we must look at specific provisions within each — and how they conflict with each other — to decide what becomes law.

This matters because it will affect all of California. And it especially matters to us in San Diego because local leaders are pushing tax measures this year. See: San Diego’s general use sales tax (which could advance to the City Council soon). See: the stormwater infrastructure tax by Council President Sean Elo-Rivera. See: the half-cent sales tax to fund transportation projects for SANDAG.

All of these — and even past measures held up in court — hinge on what the three state props rule about voting thresholds. Buckle up and ride with us on the tax podcast.

I’m a visuals guy. So I made a little table with the shortest summaries I could muster: State Props Crib Note

Also on Deck

This week, Gloria made his pick for the next San Diego Police Chief, a 25-year SDPD veteran who’s been at the forefront of homelessness and media relations. It’s Assistant Chief Scott Wahl.

Environment reporter MacKenzie Elmer joined us on the last segment of the show to explain the drama that led to the current state of the border sewage treatment plant at the U.S.-Mexico border — and what leaders are doing about it now.

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