SPECIAL REPORT / ELECTION PREVIEW : DECISION ’94 / A Voter’s Guide to State and Local Elections : Propositions : About the Initiatives

Eight of the nine ballot measures that California voters will decide on June 7 call for decisions on fiscal issues--four relating to taxes and four to borrowing in the form of bonds. Only Proposition 179 asks for a decision on a social issue--whether to increase the punishment for a crime. Three of the tax measures might seem too obscure to be put before the voters--Propositions 176, 177 and 178. Each, however, amends the state Constitution, and that document cannot be changed except by a two-thirds vote of each house of the Legislature and a majority vote of the people. Likewise, Proposition 175 is a tax-related measure and thus a constitutional amendment. Only one measure, Proposition 180, reached the ballot as a citizens initiative. The rest were authorized by the Legislature.