Pub. 2 2020-2021 Issue 4

12 November 2020: California Election Recap Alisa Reinhardt Director of Government Affairs T he 2020 election saw record voter turnout both in California and across the nation. Although 98% of the votes statewide have been counted as of this writing, due to a small handful of extremely tight races, it is too soon to know with certainty the final roster of who will be head- ing to Sacramento to serve in the state Senate and state Assembly. In addition, the unprecedented levels of spending on ballot initiative cam- paigns have almost certainly changed the game for future election cycles. There were several races that CNCDA supported in recent months, helping to elect Republicans and moderate Democrats. Victories in our efforts include Brian and Megan Dahle in Shasta, James Gallagher in Yuba City, Kevin Kiley in Rocklin, Heath Flora in Ripon, Devon Mathis in the Central Valley, Vince Fong in Bakersfield, Jordan Cunningham in San Luis Obispo, Tom Lackey and Suzette Valladares in Santa Clarita, Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh in Riverside, Phillip Chen in Diamond Bar, Kelly Seyarto in Murrieta, Steven Choi and Janet Nguyen in Orange County, Laurie Davies in Mission Viejo, and Marie Waldron in San Diego. Despite the uncertainty about the final results of a few races, we do know the outcome of many important races and ballot measures, and we will detail those here. For more information from the Secretary of State’s Office on State Assembly and Senate district races, scan here: Ballot Propositions Voters were asked to decide the fate of 12 ballot measures, three of which are important for dealers to be aware of — Proposition 15 (to require commercial and industrial properties, except those zoned as commercial agriculture, to be taxed based on their market value, rather than their purchase price); Proposition 22 (to define app-based transportation and delivery driv- ers as independent contractors and adopt labor and wage policies specific to app-based drivers and companies); and Proposition 24 (to expand the state’s consumer data privacy laws, including provi- sions to remove the time period in which businesses can fix violations before being penalized and create a new Privacy Protection Agency to enforce the state’s consumer data privacy laws). Proposition 15 failed, with 52% of voters opposed and 48% in support. At the direction of dealer leadership, CNCDA supported the “ No ” on Proposition 15 campaign with a $250,000 campaign contribution. This was a race that many watched very closely, and the “No” campaign’s victory has been largely seen as a strong rebuke to any effort to upend Proposition 13. Proposition 22 does not directly af- fect dealers like Propositions 15 and 24, but a “Yes” vote on 22 is notable because Uber and Lyft claimed the measure is necessary for them to con- tinue their California operations. Since many dealers utilize Uber and Lyft for service drive customers, this battle is worth mentioning. The “Yes” cam- paign received more than $200 mil- lion in contributions, which is a record in California for the amount of money raised by an initiative campaign. The Yes campaign won with 59% of voters in support. Leadership at Lyft has said the company is still open to negotiat- ing with state labor leaders on a com- promise, likely to stave off any future legislation, but any such compromise effort remains to be seen. Proposition 24 is one that dealer- ship compliance departments need to take special note of due to the additional scrutiny that will now be placed on business practices https://electionresults.sos.ca.gov/