Editorial Gas tax one of 13 measures looming in November election

The hottest statewide political battle in California this fall likely won’t be the governor’s race between Gavin Newsom and John Cox or any other contests for statewide office.

It will be the looming ballot fights over the state gas tax, rent control, property taxes, data privacy, caging of farm animals and whether to let paint manufacturers off the hook for the decades of health damages from lead in their products.

All told, at current count, there could be as many 13 measures on the ballot, most put on there through initiative signature-gathering drives. If that wasn’t enough, the Legislature could still add more.

The barrage of misleading mailers and advertisements on television, radio and social media that voters endured this spring will only get worse in the fall.

So, we implore you: Start preparing. Yes, it’s early. But there’s a lot of studying to do. Read and listen to new stories from trustworthy media organizations. The best defense against sleazy advertising is knowledge.

We’re not prepared to make recommendations. We, too, have studying to do. But we want to prepare you for what’s the come.

Topping the list is a Republican-led effort to repeal the gas tax increase that Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law last year. Few California issues have been as politically potent for the GOP as attacking increases to the cost of driving.

The tripling of the vehicle license fee was a key factor in the 2003 recall of Gov. Gray Davis. And last year’s gas tax increase sparked Tuesday’s recall of state Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, who had supported the hike.

The repeal initiative on the November ballot will force Brown to defend a gas tax increase that he considers one of the major accomplishments of his tenure.

He and fellow Democrats argue that the tax, which would raise about $5 billion a year, is desperately needed to repair highways, bridges and local streets. Republicans hope to use the issue as a catalyst to turn out GOP voters in November, bolstering their party’s diminishing political power.

Of the 13 measures, one was placed on the ballot by the Legislature, three initiatives have cleared the signature check at the Secretary of State’s Office and signatures for nine others, including the gas tax repeal, are undergoing review, which should be completed by June 28.

The gas tax repeal initiative is expected to qualify. The other 12 measures would:

• Give consumers the right to control what personal data businesses are gathering and ability to opt out without losing services.

• Reverse the 1995 CostaHawkins law that limits the use of rent control in California.

• Permit the state to borrow $4 billion to fund low-income housing developments and home loans for California veterans.

• Permit the state to borrow $9 billion for drinking water and watershed improvements, habitat restoration and dam repairs.

• Authorize $1.5 billion in bonds for children’s hospital construction.

• Change Proposition 13, the landmark 1978 property-tax cutting initiative, to give homeowners wanting to move a major tax break.

• Cap kidney dialysis companies’ revenues.

• Divide California into three states.

• Set new standards for the confinement of farm animals.

• Require private-sector emergency ambulance employees to remain on call during work breaks.

• Expand the types of taxes and fees that would require two-thirds approval of the Legislature or local voters.

• Limit the liability of lead-paint manufacturers.

The good news is that 19 additional ballot measures were either withdrawn or failed to qualify.

California’s penchant for ballot box democracy only works if voters arm themselves with knowledge to make informed decisions.

Voters, start doing your homework.