Michael Alan Hatch is an American politician and lawyer. He was the Attorney General of Minnesota from 1999 to 2007, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce from 1983 to 1989, and chair of the Minnesota DFL Party from 1980 to 1983.
The Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) of 1975 was a statute enacted by the California Legislature in September 1975 and signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in September. This Act was intended to lower medical malpractice liability insurance premiums for healthcare providers in California by decreasing their potential tort liability.
The California Department of Insurance (CDI), established in 1868, is the agency charged with overseeing insurance regulations, enforcing statutes mandating consumer protections, educating consumers, and fostering the stability of insurance markets in California. The CDI has authority over how the insurance industry conducts business within California, and licenses and regulates the rates and practices of insurance companies, agents, and brokers in the state.
Proposition 66 was a California ballot proposition on the November 2, 2004 ballot. It was a proposed amendment to the California three-strikes law. Prop 66 would have required the third felony charge against a suspect to be especially violent and/or serious crimes to mandate a 25-years-to-life sentence. It also would have changed the definition of some felonies. It was rejected by voters, with 52.7% voting against the proposition.
Consumer Watchdog is a non-profit, progressive organization which advocates for taxpayer and consumer interests, with a focus on insurance, health care, political reform, privacy and energy.
Proposition 16 in the California state elections, June 2010, was an initiative that would have amended the state constitution to require two-thirds supermajority voter approval before local governments could use public funds or issue bonds to establish or expand public electricity service or community choice aggregation. The proposition was rejected by an approximate 5 point margin.
Proposition 23 was a California ballot proposition that was on the November 2, 2010 California statewide ballot. It was defeated by California voters during the statewide election by a 23% margin. If passed, it would have suspended AB 32, a law enacted in 2006, legally referred to its long name, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Sponsors of the initiative referred to their measure as the California Jobs Initiative while opponents called it the Dirty Energy Prop.
Harvey Rosenfield is an American lawyer, author and consumer advocate. In 1985, he founded Consumer Watchdog, a nationally recognized, nonpartisan nonprofit public interest group. He serves as the group's counsel.
A California Congressional Redistricting Initiative, Proposition 20 was on the November 2, 2010 ballot in California. It was approved by 61.2% of voters. Election officials announced on May 5 that the proposition had collected sufficient signatures to qualify for the ballot. The measure is known by its supporters as the VOTERS FIRST Act for Congress.
Jamie Court is an American author, political activist, lobbyist, and consumer advocate. He serves as president of Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit public interest group.
Proposition 34 was a California ballot measure that was decided by California voters at the statewide election on November 6, 2012. It sought to repeal Proposition 17, originally passed by voters in 1972, thus abolishing the death penalty in California.
In California state elections, 2014 was the first year in which the top statewide offices were elected under the nonpartisan blanket primary, pursuant to Proposition 14, which passed with 53% voter approval in June 2010. Under this system, which first went into effect during the 2012 election year, all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party. In the primary, voters may vote for any candidate, regardless of their party affiliation. The top two finishers, regardless of party, then advance to face each other in the general election in November.
The Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) was a 2016 voter initiative to legalize cannabis in California. The full name is the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act. The initiative passed with 57% voter approval and became law on November 9, 2016, leading to recreational cannabis sales in California by January 2018.
Ed Howard, is an American public interest lawyer and strategist who currently works as senior counsel for the Children's Advocacy Institute and the Center for Public Interest Law based at the University of San Diego School of Law. He is currently the president of Howard Advocacy in Sacramento, California.
Proposition 60 was a California ballot proposition on the November 8, 2016, ballot which would have allowed the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) to prosecute an enforcement action anytime a condom is not visible in a pornographic film. The proposition failed to pass. Proposition 60 would have allowed any California resident to sue a pornographer and obtain their personal information. Frivolous lawsuits and actor safety were a major concern, as well as millions of taxpayer dollars it would cost to enforce. Enforcement of Proposition 60 was predicted to cost more than $1 million annually. State and local governments were predicted to lose tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue per year if the industry left the state.
Bill Zimmerman is an American political consultant and author who was an anti-war activist during the Vietnam War.
California Proposition 15 was a failed citizen-initiated proposition on the November 3, 2020, ballot. It would have provided $6.5 billion to $11.5 billion in new funding for public schools, community colleges, and local government services by creating a "split roll" system that increased taxes on large commercial properties by assessing them at market value, without changing property taxes for small business owners or residential properties for homeowners or renters. The measure failed by a small margin of about four percentage points.
Proposition 22 was a ballot initiative in California that became law after the November 2020 state election, passing with 59% of the vote and granting app-based transportation and delivery companies an exception to Assembly Bill 5 by classifying their drivers as "independent contractors", rather than "employees". The law exempts employers from providing the full suite of mandated employee benefits while instead giving drivers new protections:
Proposition 45, also known as Prop 45 and the Insurance Rate Public Justification and Accountability Act, was a California ballot proposition that required any health insurance rate change to be approved by the state's Insurance Commissioner before it goes into effect. It failed in the November 2014 California elections. Insurance companies would be required to submit information to justify their rate change. The proposition also would have put in place procedures for public notice, disclosure, hearing, and subsequent judicial review for the process of the rate change being approved. The proposition was similar to 1988 California Proposition 103, in that it imposed the same things on health care insurers that the 1988 proposition imposed on homeowners insurance and automobile insurance. Sponsors of the proposition had originally tried to get the proposition on the November 2012 California election ballot and turned in over 800,000 signatures on May 18, 2012. On June 28, 2012, it was determined that there would not be enough time to confirm the validity of the signatures in time for the November election. It was announced on August 23, 2012 that the measure would be on the November 2014 ballot. The proposition was supported by Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, CREDO Action and Dennis Quaid. Opponents of the measure include the California Republican Party, California Hospital Association, NAACP California, California Chamber of Commerce and California Medical Association.
Proposition 35, titled Managed Care Organization Tax Authorization Initiative, was a successful California ballot proposition in the 2024 general election on November 5. The proposition makes permanent an existing tax on managed health care insurance plans to fund Medi-Cal services pending federal approval.
