California Proposition 68 (also the Natural Resources Bond or the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access for All Act of 2018) was a

legislatively referred constitutional amendment A legislative referral (or legislative referendum) is a referendum in which a legislature puts proposed legislation up for popular vote. This may either be voluntarily or, as is the case in many countries for a constitutional amendment, as a ma ...

that appeared on ballots in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in the June primary election in 2018. It was a $4.1bn

bond measure A municipal bond, commonly known as a muni, is a bond issued by state or local governments, or entities they create such as authorities and special districts. In the United States, interest income received by holders of municipal bonds is often, ...

to fund parks, environmental projects, water infrastructure projects and flood protection measures throughout California.

Proposal

The Proposition would allow the State of California to borrow $4.1bn using a municipal bond scheme in order to fund parks, water and flood protection infrastructure and various environmental projects. The Proposition set allocation of these funds between different strategies: *Natural Resource Conservation and Resiliency - $1.547bn ** State conservancies and

wildlife conservation Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...

- $767m ** Climate preparedness and habitat resiliency - $443m **Ocean and

coastal protection Coastal management is defence against flooding and erosion, and techniques that stop erosion to claim lands. Protection against rising sea levels in the 21st century is crucial, as sea level rise accelerates due to climate change. Changes in ...

- $175m **River and waterway improvements - $162m *Parks and recreation - $1.283bn **Parks in neighbourhoods with few parks - $725m **Local and regional parks - $285m ** State park restoration, preservation and protection - $218m **Trails,

greenways Greenway or Greenways may refer to: * Greenway (landscape), a linear park focused on a trail or bike path * Another term for bicycle boulevards in some jurisdictions People * Greenway (surname) Places Australia * Electoral Division of Greenwa ...

, and rural recreation - $55m *Water - $1.27bn **

Flood protection Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water levels ...

- $550m **

Groundwater recharge Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer. This process usually occurs ...

and cleanup - $370m ** Safe drinking water - $250m ** Water recycling - $100m The cost to the public was estimated to be $7.8bn after paying off interest, or an average annual repayment of $200m for forty years.

Campaign

Support

Proposition 68 was authored by State Senator

Kevin de León Kevin Alexander Leon (born December 10, 1966), known professionally as Kevin de León and colloquially as KDL, is an American politician serving as the Los Angeles City Council member for district 14 since 2020. A member of the Democratic Party, ...

. The 'Yes' campaign focused mainly on the improvements the Proposition would bring to parks, saying that it would remedy years of "under-investment" in environmental infrastructure in poorer communities. 'Yes' supporters spent more than $9m throughout the campaign.

Endorsements

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of ...

, then-Governor of California *

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California f ...

, then-Lieutenant Governor of California *

Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillar ...

, former Los Angeles mayor *

League of California Cities The League of California Cities is an association of cities within the state of California, founded in 1898. Most of the state's 482 cities are represented in the league. The League publishes ''Western City'', a monthly magazine, and holds an annu ...

, association of California's cities *

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

, the United States' fifth largest newspaper, based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

* The Sacramento Bee,

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

's largest newspaper * Daily Bruin,

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

newspaper *

The Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

, paper from

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

*The

Outdoor Industry Association Outdoor(s) may refer to: * Wilderness *Natural environment * Outdoor cooking * Outdoor education *Outdoor equipment *Outdoor fitness *Outdoor literature *Outdoor recreation Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity refers to recreation done outside ...

Save the Redwoods League Save the Redwoods League is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and restore coast redwood (''Sequoia sempervirens'') and giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees through the preemptive purchase of development rights ...

Peninsula Open Space Trust The Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) is a nonprofit land trust headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Mission and Work POST mission is to protect open space on the Peninsula and in the South Bay for the benefit of all. The organization has bee ...

Opposition

Opposition to Proposition 68 mainly argued that instead of issuing debt, the state should fund parks and environmental projects through California's general fund. It was also noted that although the 'Yes' campaign was promoting the Proposition on its benefits to parks, less than one third of the money would actually go towards parks and recreation.

Endorsements

John Moorlach Johannes Meindert Willem Moorlach (born December 21, 1955) is an American politician who served as a member of the California State Senate representing 37th Senate district, which includes portions of Orange County, from 2015 to 2020. He was de ...

, State Senator *

Andrea Seastrand Andrea Heidi Seastrand (née Ciszek; born August 5, 1941) is a former one-term Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1995 to 1997. Personal life Seastrand was born Andrea Heidi Ciszek in Chicago. She gra ...

, former House member *Jon Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association * Peace and Freedom Party, left-wing political party * Chico Enterprise-Record, newspaper of

Chico, California Chico ( ; Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, reflecting an increase from 86,18 ...

Results

Yes/No Statement

A "yes" vote on Proposition 68 proposes: The state could sell $4.1 billion in general obligation bonds to fund various natural resources-related programs such as for

habitat conservation Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitats and prevent species extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in te ...

, parks, and water-related projects. A "no" vote on Proposition 68 proposes: The state could not sell $4.1 billion in general obligation bonds to fund various natural resources-related programs.

Results

Proposition 68 gained 3,808,000 yes votes and 2,831,899 no votes (a total of 6,639,899 votes), so passing with 57.35% approval

References

{{reflist 2018 California elections 2018 California ballot propositions Environment of California Parks in California