News from: CalChamber

The California Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors is supporting the Ballot Measure Transparency Act of 2022, which proposes to amend the Constitution and state statutes to transfer responsibility for preparation of ballot materials from the Attorney General to the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO).

“Voters should have the expectation of clear, accurate and useful descriptions of ballot measures to help them make an informed decision when they vote,” said CalChamber President and CEO Jennifer Barrera. “This initiative will take bias and politics out of official descriptions of ballot measures.”

The CalChamber Board of Directors supports this change because many voters only see and consider the titles, summaries, and ballot labels when casting their votes. This places a high premium on objective and accurate ballot information, according to the CalChamber.

“The LAO has delivered consistent, objective and high-quality work products over decades as an independent, nonpartisan, trusted source of policy analysis,” Barrera said. “Moving the ballot information process to the LAO will ensure greater integrity in the initiative process.”

Ballot Measure Transparency Act

In addition to transferring responsibility for preparing ballot materials to the LAO, the initiative also:

• Requires the LAO to remain independent, non-partisan and guided solely by the interests of voters;
• Requires the LAO to use clear, concise terms that are easily understood by voters;
• Requires the LAO to state clearly whether a measure increases taxes, including what type and by what amount; and
• Requires LAO to consult with an independent panel of readability experts to ensure its ballot descriptions are easy to understand.

A recent CalChamber poll found voters, after being read a description of this measure, supported it by a 68% to 6% margin.