California Can Build Back Stronger This November

We Californians can build a better future by voting on these critical issues here at home.

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For the November 2020 election, every voter in California will receive a ballot in the mail, whether you’ve signed up for absentee voting or not. Thanks to Governor Newsom and Secretary of State Alex Padilla, voting is safer and easier than ever in 2020. Please fill out your ballot and either mail it back or drop it in a safe ballot box in your community or, if you prefer, vote in person at an early voting site, or at your polling place on November 3. Just make sure your voice is heard. 

In this year of extremes, one thing that is the same is that there are lots of statewide propositions on the November ballot—twelve in all. Many of them address issues such as racial equity, community health and voting rights—issues that NRDC and the NRDC Action Fund are actively engaged with.

While the federal administration continues to turn back the clock on critical environmental and racial justice protections, endangering public health, and exacerbating social tensions, Californians have a chance to chart a different course—one that is caring and sustainable. We can advance climate progress and justice by voting with our values at the ballot box. With a record 21 million registered voters, what we decide in California ripples across the country.

Just this past year, California has accomplished a lot, against the odds:

  • California sued the Trump administration for the 100th time (and counting!).
  • Governor Newsom accelerated state action on climate change with two recent executive orders.
  • The California Air Resources Board finalized its Advanced Clean Truck Rule – a global first that requires manufacturers to sell clean, zero-emission trucks in place of polluting diesel ones.
  • The State enacted policies to ban the sale and use of the brain-damaging pesticide chlorpyrifos, and to build back stronger with good paying jobs to make air ventilation and drinking water in underserved public schools healthier and safer for reopening.
  • San José is setting the pace for major cities everywhere by expanding its policies to power more new buildings with clean, renewable energy instead of dirty fossil fuels.

There’s still so much to do to build a more just, sustainable economy, but we have a chance now to make progress at the ballot box. NRDC and the NRDC Action Fund are recommending you vote YES on the following California propositions:

  • Proposition 15 to help raise an estimated $12 billion annually for cities and counties, K-12 education, and community colleges, and sustainable development.
  • Proposition 16 to help ensure that everyone, regardless of race or gender, has an equal shot at fair wages, good jobs, and quality schools in public contracting and admissions.
  • Proposition 18 to allow 17-year-olds who turn 18 before general elections to vote in earlier primary and special elections in CA—getting young people in the habit of voting, and giving them a greater say in choosing leaders who will protect their futures and champion bold environmental policies.

We are also recommending you vote NO on the following California measure: 

  • Proposition 22 – A NO vote will maintain basic protections like paid sick leave, minimum wage, and overtime pay for workers who were previously misclassified as independent contractors.

We Californians can build a strong, sustainable future by voting on these critical issues here at home.

 

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