California 2024 Ballot Endorsements

YES on California Proposition 2:

Proposition 2 will authorize the issuance of much-needed bonds to fund the repair, upgrade, and construction of K-12 public schools and community colleges.  Adequate state-of-the-art facilities are critical to achieving equal educational outcomes for all California students, including the large and growing number of Latino students who are so essential to our state’s success in the future.  MALDEF urges a “YES” vote on Proposition 2.

YES on California Proposition 3:

Proposition 3 will ensure that marriage equality continues in California even if a conservative United States Supreme Court majority reverses the current constitutional protection of the right of all couples to marry.  This measure is necessary because the new Court majority has already demonstrated that it is willing to overturn even longstanding court precedent for political reasons.  Our society thrives when we work together to eliminate all discrimination grounded in irrational prejudice.  MALDEF urges a “YES” vote on Proposition 3.

YES on California Proposition 5:

Proposition 5 will lower the threshold for approving local bonds to support housing and infrastructure from a two-thirds majority requirement to 55 percent.  All voter supermajority requirements are anti-democratic and devalue the rights of current voters in comparison to past electorates, which included far fewer voters of color, that enacted the supermajority requirements.  This measure is an important step toward vote equity for an increasingly Latino California electorate.  MALDEF urges a “YES” vote on Proposition 5.

YES on California Proposition 35:

Proposition 35 will ensure the continuation of an existing tax on certain health care plans and provide that those revenues be used to support certain critical Medi-Cal and other health programs.  California’s decreasing investment in Medi-Cal has harmed the increasingly Latino population receiving care through Medi-Cal; this measure will help to begin to address that problem.  MALDEF urges a “YES” vote on Proposition 35.

NO on California Proposition 36:

Proposition 36 would increase prison costs by increasing sentences for certain theft and drug crimes, with no indication that the increases would reduce crime at all.  Increased imprisonment diverts resources and often unduly punishes people of color, including Latinos.  This measure is a retreat from recent criminal-justice reform efforts that is unwarranted by any fair evaluation of the effects of those reforms.  MALDEF urges a “NO” vote on Proposition 36.