Several states and major cities are voting on important measures regarding taxes and labor next week, providing voters with opportunities to circumvent legislators who are hostile to making the rich pay their fair share or ensuring businesses properly compensate workers.
On the minimum wage front, Arkansas Issue 5 would raise the wage to $11 per-hour by 2022, Missouri's Proposition B would increase it to $12 an hour by 2023, and populous Cook County, Illinois, which is home to Chicago, would establish a $13 minimum wage for adults. Those last two measures would even lock in future increases by indexing them for inflation. Cook County will also vote on whether to let municipalities require that companies offer five days of paid sick leave per year.
Meanwhile, Maine voters could raise taxes to pay for the country's first universal home-care program for the elderly and disabled, which could serve as an example for other states to follow as the nation's population ages. Colorado, where it takes 55 percent to pass a measure, could finally replace its regressive flat income tax with a progressive structure to provide greater funding for education—an important development in a state where, since 1992, a "Taxpayers Bill of Rights" has limited the state government's ability to increase revenues.
However, Republican activists and lawmakers have put measures on the ballot elsewhere that could have catastrophic consequences for progressives to be able to adequately fund services like education. Worst among these is Florida's Amendment 5, which would emulate California by requiring a two-thirds supermajority for the legislature to raise taxes and fees instead of a simple majority. Fortunately, this measure itself would need a 60 percent supermajority to pass.
Relatedly, an Oregon initiative would extend the existing three-fifths supermajority requirement to raise taxes to any measures that increase revenue, and an Arizona measure would ban new or increased taxes on all services whatsoever.
At the local level, dark-blue San Francisco, California could impose a tax on corporations and big businesses to fund services for the homeless amid the city's housing crisis. However, this measure has divided Democrats, some of whom argue it will hurt the city’s economy and make homelessness worse.
Finally, one of the six deceptive amendments North Carolina Republicans have placed on the ballot related to taxes as well. This measure aims to lock in tax cuts the GOP passed for the rich, which would badly undermine Democrats' ability to increase direly needed education funding and teacher pay if they ever take control of state government. This amendment lowers the constitutional cap on the maximum income tax rate from 10 percent to 7 percent, but despite GOP arguments, it doesn't actually lower taxes, which the GOP already cut to 5.5 percent when they eliminated progressive tax brackets and instead raised regressive sales taxes and fees several years ago.
You can find a table summarizing these measures below, and you can view our full list of measures to watch on a variety of topics in this spreadsheet. Our spreadsheet details whether each measure was placed on the ballot by elected representatives or whether it was directly initiated by voters, as well as whether it's a statute or amends a state constitution or local government charter. To read our first post in this series on ballot measures affecting voting rights, please click here.
Jurisdiction |
Name |
Proposal |
Arizona |
Proposition 126 |
Bans new or increased taxes on all services |
Arkansas |
Issue 5 |
Sets a $11 minimum wage by 2022 |
California |
Proposition 6 |
Repeals the 2017 gas tax increase and requires a public vote on future increases |
Colorado |
Amendment 73 |
Replaces the flat income tax with progressive brackets and uses the increased funding for education |
Florida |
Amendment 5 |
Requires a two-thirds supermajority for the legislature to raise taxes or fees |
Maine |
Question 1 |
Creates payroll and non-wage income taxes to fund universal home care for the elderly and disabled |
Missouri |
Proposition B |
Sets a $12 minimum wage by 2023 and indexes it to the Consumer Price Index thereafter |
North Carolina |
Income Tax Cap |
Cuts the income tax cap from 10 percent to 7 percent but doesn't actually cut the existing 5.75 percent flat tax rate |
Oregon |
Measure 104 |
Extends the three-fifths supermajority requirement to raise taxes to any laws that increase revenue |
Cook County, IL |
Earned Sick time for Workers Measure |
Allows municipalities to establish five paid sick days |
Cook County, IL |
Minimum Wage Measure |
Sets a $13 minimum wage for adults by 2020 and indexes it to the Consumer Price Index thereafter |
San Francisco, CA |
Proposition C |
Creates a tax on corporations to fund programs for the homeless |