Thank you to everyone who has asked me for my recommendations on the statewide propositions. YES on 39, 41, 42, 43, 45 NO on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 37, 38, 40, 44 Yes, I'm writing a "Susan does the props" column. Here's a preview: NO on Prop. 1 - It's $11.25 billion of borrowed money for "affordable housing" that will enrich favored developers and burden taxpayers for decades. NO on Prop. 2 - A budget shell game to enable spending that the state can't afford. NO on Prop. 3 - Another permanent extension of "temporary" tax hikes. Just stop with this. NO on Prop. 4 - Allows taxpayer dollars to be used for political campaigns. Seriously, no. NO on Prop. 5 - Guts the people's power to recall elected officials by prohibiting a replacement election on the same ballot. Changes the law to allow the ousted official to run in the later special election to fill the office. The legislature put this on the ballot. Of course they did. (There is no 6 through 36. Don't call the county, your ballot is not missing any pages.) NO on Prop. 37 - A $25 billion program to fund second mortgages for people who can't come up with a down payment, paid for by the people who get the mortgages. Caps on the income of people who are eligible. Caps on the price of the (newly constructed only) homes/condos they can buy. Goodies for developers who agree to conditions. It's a lot of government effort to push people into having two mortgage payments they're barely able to afford. And then they have to pay HOA fees, property taxes, insurance premiums and utility bills. What could go wrong? NO on Prop. 38 - This is $8.4 billion of borrowed money for medical research, to be repaid with interest by California taxpayers. The mandated spending split seems designed to benefit the individual who paid to collect the signatures to get it on the ballot. YES on Prop. 39 - Voter ID. It's long past time for California to join 36 other states and the civilized world in verifying the identity of voters. NO on Prop. 40 - The "billionaires tax," which has a provision allowing the Legislature to amend it later. Guess why. YES on Prop. 41 - Requires pre-election audits of programs that would be funded by a proposed special tax. Good idea. YES on Prop. 42 - Prohibits a tax on retirement accounts and other assets, blocking Prop. 40. Another good idea. YES on Prop. 43 - Protects taxpayers by making it harder to raise taxes. Restores the required two-thirds vote to pass local special (earmarked) taxes. Closes a court-created loophole that since 2017 has made it easier to pass sales tax increases and other costly taxes. Vote yes to close this loophole. NO on Prop. 44 - Similar to the kidney dialysis propositions that relentlessly haunted previous ballots, this is an attempt to harass non-unionized clinics. YES on Prop. 45 - Creates CEQA streamlining for certain types of projects, including single-family home developments and water projects. May also ease the path for some horrific projects, so this one's a mixed bag. That's the list of propositions that are on your statewide ballot. A note about the statewide offices: If you think California is on the wrong track, the two most important offices for fixing the problems are governor and controller. It will get better if Steve Hilton is elected governor. It will get better if Herb Morgan is elected controller. Their opponents really need to get out of the business. A note about judicial races: Two recently appointed appellate court justices who recklessly widened the loophole that makes it easier to raise taxes are on the ballot for retention. If you vote in Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo counties: Vote NO to retaining Armen Tamzarian Vote NO to retaining Audra Mori. ###