Overall, Super Tuesday was a super day for business , at least as far as the ballot propositions went.
The California Chamber of Commerce took a stand on 13 statewide ballot measures the business group felt would have an impact on companies throughout the state. On March 7, the popular vote went contrary to only two of those recommendations , and those two had only marginal impact on businesses.
The biggest victories, as far as the state chamber was concerned, was the defeat of Propositions 30 and 31. Those two measures, sponsored by trial attorneys (read personal injury lawyers) would have reinstated third party lawsuits, a costly anti-business legal tactic that was outlawed after it drove far too many businesses out of California.
These two measures would have essentially allowed injured parties to sue a defendant’s insurance company if they felt the insurer didn’t pay up fast enough. The result would have been higher contingency fees for lawyers and higher insurance premiums for everyone else.
Propositions 12 and 13, twin environmental and water quality and assurance measures, won both the support of both business and environmental groups, as well as the popular vote on Super Tuesday. Together they promise to ensure protection of our state parks and coastlines , important to the tourist trade , and the availability of water for the state’s families and businesses.
Proposition 14, the California Reading and Literacy and Public Library Construction and Renovation Act, also evoked strong support from the state chamber, as did Prop. 20, which allocates state lottery revenues to be used for textbooks and instructional material.
Both of these propositions promise to help improve the learning abilities of the state’s future workers , a major concern for businesses these days. Prop. 14 won with 59 percent of the vote; Prop. 20 with 53 percent.
The state chamber took no position on Propositions 1A and 29, the Indian gaming initiatives, but their victories assure that California’s newest business people , the members of the state’s Indian tribes , have the right to continue building self-sufficiency.
The tribes’ success will ultimately lead to greater tourism revenues for the state as a whole, and that can only be a benefit to business.
So Super Tuesday was, in fact, a super day for California businesses.
