A number of infrastructure-related initiatives with the potential to impact facilities managers were on the ballot during the 2024 U.S. presidential election as voters nationwide took to the polls on Nov. 5. Four key ballot initiatives were presented to voters in California, Colorado, Oklahoma and Rhode Island, according to a report by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
These measures can potentially influence how facilities managers, operators and engineers approach capital projects, maintenance budgets and resilience planning, ASCE said.
California
Two initiatives, Proposition 4 and Proposition 5, were on the ballot, seeking to provide bond funding for public infrastructure.
Proposition 4 is aimed at allowing the state to issue $10 billion in bonds for funding projects to improve California’s water supply, tackle sea-level rise and invest in the state’s energy infrastructure. This proposition was approved Nov. 5, with 58.9% of voters from over 24,800 precincts voting in favor of it, as of Nov. 10.
The bond marks the largest investment in climate resiliency in California’s history, according to ASCE. It would require at least 40% of total bond money to be used for activities that directly impact communities more vulnerable to the impact of climate change.
The second initiative, Proposition 5, seeks to amend California’s constitution to lower the 66.67% supermajority required for local jurisdictions to issue bonds for affordable housing and public infrastructure projects down to 55%. The initiative failed to pass, with only 44.3% of voters saying yes to the initiative, according to Ballotpedia, a nonpartisan platform that provides insights into U.S. politics and elections.
Another ballot measure, Proposition 32, seeks to raise the state’s minimum wage from $16 to $18. While the state is still working to determine the outcome, unofficial results show that 51% of voters are against the measure, as of Nov. 12, according to KQED.
Oklahoma
Voters in Oklahoma were asked to decide if an amendment should be made to the state’s constitution that would allow municipalities to create “public infrastructure districts,” or PIDs, which would have had the authority to issue bonds for public improvements to roads, sidewalks, water, sewer and other infrastructure.
The proposed constitutional amendment, known as Oklahoma State Question 833, failed to pass the ballot, with 61.6% of voters in the state saying no to the amendment. The PIDs would have been governed by a board of trustees with the power to levy special assessments on properties that benefit from improvement projects. Such assessments could go for up to $100 per $100,000 of property value assessed, according to Ballotpedia.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island Question 4, the Environmental and Recreational Infrastructure Bond Measure, was a ballot measure that aimed to approve a $53 million “green bond to fund environmental-related infrastructure, recreation areas and green space issues in the state, ASCE said.
The ballot measure include $10 million for the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank to fund matching grants of up to 75% to directly support the state’s cities and towns in their efforts to improve the resilience of vulnerable infrastructure, as well as $2 million for matching grants to public and nonprofit entities to restore and improve the climate resilience of vulnerable areas, according to ASCE.
The initiative won approval with roughly 67.4% voting yes to the bond measure.
North Dakota
In addition to the issues named by ASCE, other measures that could impact property owners and operators were considered in the Midwest, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. For instance, North Dakota’s Measure 4 sought to eliminate property taxes based on assessed value, requiring the state to provide an estimated $3.15 billion in replacement revenue to local governments during each two-year budget, AP News reported. However, voters rejected this measure in the November 2024 election.
Meanwhile, Kentucky and Nebraska voted to eliminate funding to nonpublic schools. Over 64% of Kentucky voters rejected Constitutional Amendment 2, which would have allowed public funds to be spent on nonpublic schools.
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