Voters pass Brown’s Prop. 30

November 7, 2012

California voters approved Gov. Jerry Brown’s measure to raise taxes to fund public education.

Proposition 30 passed with just under 54 percent of the vote, allowing schools to avoid billions of dollars in automatic spending cuts. The measure increases the state sales tax by one fourth of a percent for four years and increases income taxes for seven years on those earning more than $250,000.

Voters overwhelmingly rejected a competing tax measure, Proposition 38, funded by civil rights attorney Molly Munger.

Measures that passed included propositions 35 and 36 that respectively increased penalties on human traffickers and limited the Three Strikes Law to only violent offenses.

Proponents of mandatory labeling of food with genetically modified ingredients lost their battle with food and biotech companies that funded the opposition. Following a late surge in spending from firms like Monsanto and Dupont, Proposition 37 failed by a 6 percent margin, receiving only 46.9 percent of vote.

Proposition 32, a measure prohibiting unions from using payroll deductions to make political contributions, also failed. 56.1 percent of voters opposed it.

Two other measures did pass, each by wide margins. Voters approved of Proposition 39, a tax on multi-state businesses to provide energy funding, and Proposition 40, which certified the state senate boundaries drawn by the Citizens Redistricting Commission.