We conclude our look at the propositions facing Californians on their November 2026 ballot (links to posts about the earlier covered propositions are at the bottom of this post) with an examination of two measures that could not be more different if they tried. This duly noted, when considered together, they are quintessential California politics. Proposition 44 would mandate community health clinics spend 90 percent of their revenue on community services. Proposition 45 would, in essence, relax at least some of the onerous “environmental”-based regulations strangling new building construction in the Golden State by limiting the time available for reviewing new projects as well as the time available for entertaining lawsuits regarding same.
Proposition 44’s proponents argue that since at least some community health clinics receive state funding, all of them should be required to spend themselves into oblivion on “community services,” this as opposed to nonessential items such as salaries and stuff designed to keep staff onboard who otherwise might find work at far more lucrative private practices, instead serving those who cannot afford private practice prices. The measure’s opponents state that if push comes to shove, most, if not all, of the affected clinics will lock their doors and walk away, leaving the people the measure claims to support without their primary healthcare resource. Insert your favorite killing the goose that lays the golden eggs comment here.
Proposition 45 pushes the novel concept that if California genuinely wants growth in areas such as affordable (at least by California standards) housing, or rebuilding areas devastated by fire and such, maybe put a lid on the local, often unelected yokel’s emulation of a pocket veto by mandating that if everything review- and lawsuit-wise — remember, this is California we are talking about — is not wrapped up by a specific date, the shovels go in the ground the next day period. This has naturally upset the environweenies who, were they around in the days of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, would have spent so much time delaying whatever construction there was in the Shire that Sauron would have conquered the place because Frodo would have been too busy filing paperwork at the Hobbit Homeowners Association to make the trek to Mordor. I mean, the nerve of suggesting people responsible for environmental reviews do their actual job in less time than it takes a redwood to go from sapling to gargantuan.
As earlier noted, aside from their physical proximity on the ballot, the two propositions have as much in common as progressives and sanity. A closer examination reveals a deeper conjoined reality regarding California government. Its lunatic fringe, which often seems to be more warp and woof than edge decoration, sees itself as the people’s benign de facto dictatorship, its place in office held fast by a mindless populace’s continually returning it to power, cheered on by the local lapdog media utterly devoid of any interest in investigation as it parrots Democrat press releases as gospel. Under the veneer of “it’s for your own good — it’s FOR THE CHILDREN,” the progressives push their social engineering efforts seeking to make California, and eventually the whole of the country, a socialist regime with the self-appointed safely tucked away behind their gated communities and the people left scrambling for promised cooperative fruits of the harvest turned by incompetence and cruel indifference into crumbs. Meanwhile, those who have not yet bent their knee to emulators of, or the actual, Governor Brylcreem … er, Baal do their best to modify the law to at least partially reflect what works, no matter the opposition. For those of us who call California home and refuse to abandon it while fully understanding and supporting those who have had enough and pulled up stakes, this is the way. I say, without sarcasm or resignation, pray for us.
Earlier:
- Proposition 1 — California State Proposition Pledges to Help Veterans Obtain Affordable Housing, Sort Of
- Proposition 2 — A Rainy Day Fund Increase, or Making a Shell Game the State's Umbrella?
- Proposition 3 — In Shocking (or Not) Development, California Asks Voters to Make Temporary Tax Increase Permanent
- Proposition 4 — California Is Asking Voters to Approve Public Financing of Political Campaigns. What Could Go Wrong?
- Proposition 5 — California's Proposition 5 Seeks to Discourage Recall Elections
- Propositions 37 and 38 — California's Proposed Assistance for First-Time Homebuyers Has More Catches Than a Cheap Sweater
- Proposition 39 — California Lawmakers and Enforcers Are Hopping Mad They Are Being Asked to Enforce State Voting Laws
- Proposition 40, 41, 42, and 43 — California Voters Asked to Simultaneously Raise, Outlaw, and Restrict New Taxes. Yes, Really