California ballot measures dropped as Newsom promises legislative fixes

Some horse-trading occurred on two initiatives Tuesday as the California governor reached deals to pull them from the ballot if he signed off on legislation that would resolve the issues.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Sunday to sign the budget, which has resulted in some 11^th hour changes, leading up to the deadline, even though he and legislative leaders reached an agreement this past weekend on the majority of the big ticket items.

It’s also the time of year when decisions are made to streamline measures headed for the ballot, including combining some bond measures, handling them through legislative fixes and dropping others in an attempt to not overwhelm voters in November.

The Thursday deadline for ballot measures is drawing near, with lawmakers still weighing a $14 billion school bond measure and another up to $16 billion climate change bond.

The measures include one that would provide additional funding for the Department of Health Care Services to support children’s hospitals while the other strengthened efforts to prepare for the next pandemic.

The funding from the children’s hospital measure will help support medical care for critically ill children and those fighting “the most serious and life-threatening diseases,” according to the governor’s office.

Amendments in AB/SB159 as part of the agreement included “a continuous appropriation of $115 million per year for supplemental payments to children’s hospitals, effective July 1, 2024,” according to an Assembly analysis of changes made to the budget package bill.

“For the children suffering from the worst and most serious illnesses, we must support the hospitals that give them a fighting chance to live and thrive,” Newsom said. “I’m pleased we were able to provide this additional financial assistance and avoid a costly ballot initiative.”

Once this legislation is passed, proponents of the “Affordable, Life-Saving Healthcare for Critically Ill Children” initiative eligible for the November 2024 ballot have agreed to withdraw their measure.

In addition to funding provided in the state budget, the children’s hospitals were asked to maximize the use of federal money, to help a greater number of critically ill children, said Ann-Louise Kuhns, president and CEO of CCHA.  “We have found the best path to do so with less stress on the state’s budget for public health, public safety, public education and public infrastructure.”

The pandemic preparedness measure, first introduced in 2021 as COVID-19 vaccines were being rolled out, would have raised taxes on personal income above $5 million by 0.75-percentage point for 10 years. The campaign collected more than $21 million from groups funded by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and Sam Bankman-Fried.

But support began to ebb for the measure as Bankman-Fried, the cryptocurrency and hedge fund entrepreneur’s empire collapsed after he was charged, and then found guilty of defrauding investors.

As part of the agreement on the pandemic-related measure, Newsom proposed integrating the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine into the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS) and broadening its scope to include technologies relevant to pandemic prevention.

The precision medicine initiative was first launched in 2015 to support collaborative research and foster partnerships between the state, researchers, patients, communities, and industry.

Precision medicine, particularly when used with advanced diagnostic tools for infectious diseases, has the potential to alleviate the burdens of future pandemics by enabling early detection, faster response, and more effective countermeasures, according to the governor.

“The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the necessity for robust public-private partnerships to respond rapidly to emerging public health threats,” Newsom said. “By harnessing the power of precision medicine, California is moving to the forefront of pandemic preparedness and prevention.”

This reorganization and expansion is reflected in AB/SB 164. Once this legislation is passed, Californians Against Pandemics, proponents of a ballot initiative eligible for the November 2024 ballot that would create the California Institute for Pandemic Prevention, have agreed to withdraw their measure.

“There are very few actions we can take in this world that could result in alleviating more suffering and saving more lives than preventing another global pandemic — I am glad to see Gov. Newsom and the state of California pick up that torch to help Californians and all of humanity,” said Dr. Steve Luby, director of research at the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health.