Proposition 8 on this November's ballot seeks to eliminate same-sex marriage in California. It is probably the most talked about state ballot initiative within the state and nationally, yet people are still not sure what it is or what a 'yes' (eliminate gay marriage) or 'no' (keep gay marriage) vote means. One Southern California Prop 8 proponent who went door-to-door recently experienced ths first hand: "Many people are confused about Proposition 8 or do not......

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a piece of legislation on Monday that changes the language in Proposition 1, the high speed rail bond. Now it will be Proposition 1a, but there's a problem: the voter guides have already been printed with Prop 1 language, not Prop 1a's. Therefore, an additional voter guide will have to be printed at the cost of approximately $4 million, according to Secretary of State Debra Bowen. Schwarzenegger, who is big......

Democratic presidential hopefuls Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. with Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, FILE) It's official(ish). Delaware Senator Joe Biden is Senator Barack Obama's vice presidential pick, according to a CNN text message alert. The Obama campaign said nothing is official until a text message is sent out per their plan, but after the Associated Press found out that Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana both said......

Mark Paul, former deputy treasurer of California, among other things, has a good point about all the money-spending initiatives on this November's ballot. "In a little-noticed report, Treasurer Bill Lockyer projected last year that, at current tax levels, California will not be able to pay for its existing programs and its debt service at any time in the next two decades if voters keep approving bonds at the same rate as they have over the......

Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist (see more photos here) It's been more than 10 days since California Attorney General Jerry Brown ruled on the official ballot language for Proposition 8. It simply states that, if a majority of voters say yes, it "Changes California Constitution to eliminate right of same-sex couples to marry. Provides that only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Of course, Prop 8 proponents......

Photo by Salaam Allah West Coast Transitphotography KING! via Flickr A huge hurdle has been cleared so that a half-cent sales tax increase proposal can be on November's ballot. Yesterday afternoon, a state Senate committee approved the bill that allows LA County to ask for the tax hike. If it makes it there and is approved by voters, it could raise $30 to $40 billion a year over the next 30 years for public......

Not only are there Props 7 and 10, which are environmentally intentioned with heavy opposition from businesses and eco-groups alike, there is also a possible prop being pushed around by Governor Schwarzenegger and Senator Dianne Feinstein. It would be a $9.3 billion water bond, mainly for water surface storage. And before we even know if the state legislature will approve its placement on November's ballot, nearly 40 environmental groups have already launched a large campaign......

State Senator Jenny Oropeza represents coastal areas, including LAX, and also sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee that's currently deciding the fate of AB 2321 which will allow a measure asking the people to vote on a sales tax increase that would go towards transportation, mostly public transit projects like the "Subway to the Sea" and a Green Line extension to LAX. The airport extension is in the plan, but not written into the state......

Photo by citroenazu via Flickr The basic premise for voting against "Big Solar" Prop 7 on November's ballot is that it has good environmental intentions for the state's renewable energy goals but was written so poorly, it would jack up consumer energy bills and have other unintended consequences. Hundreds of thousands of dollars been put into the No on Prop 7 side from energy companies including Southern California Edison and PG&E in Northern California.......

$2 million was raised at the Los Angeles Equality Awards held in Los Angeles this past Saturday. Most of the donations went towards Equality California's NO on 8 campaign, which opposes the proposed ban on gay marriage in California. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU-California) donated $500,000, the California Teacher’s Association announced a contribution $250,000 and AT&T donated $25,000, according to the WeHoNews. Equality California also donated a half million of their own money not......

“This lawsuit was more about politics than the law. The court properly dismissed it,” California Attorney General Brown said today about a lawsuit challenge about the language that will appear on November's ballot over gay marriage. A judge today dismissed the challenge and said the language is fine. Proponents of Prop 8 wanted the prop to be described as a limit on marriage, but after gay marriage was legalized in June, the Brown changed it......

Scwharzenegger has given his support of Proposition 1, which would allow over $9 billion in funding for the beginnings of high speed rail in California (whiz between LA and SF in under three hours, they say). But earlier this week, he said he was not going to sign any bills (and some report that he will veto everything or some mix therof) until the legislature finishes the budget. Well, yesterday, a bill that would......

What a week. As we wait for state politicians to decide if a sales tax transportation increase can be put on the ballot for voters to decide, the LA County Board of Supervisors are going to revisit their decision of putting it on the general ballot or a separate, confusing and costly one. Don Knabe, who voted not to support the measure on Tuesday has changed his mind. That doesn't mean he's all for the......

At West Hollywood's 'Wedding Park' in June (more photos here) | Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist We've been following Proposition 8, which seeks to eliminate gay marriage on the November ballot, for some time now. The trend, as of late, has been that new issues and announcements come one at a time, maybe every other day. But more recently, the twists and turns in navigating the proposition has been more than a daily one. Today,......

There's a local initiative facing Santa Monicans this November regarding development in the name of traffic. The Residents' Initiative to Fight Traffic's (RIFT) ballot measure would amend the land use element of Santa Monica's general plan "to establish an annual limit on commercial development" within the city until 2023. The working theory is that traffic can't increase much if new jobs aren't made available in new developments. These days, SaMo traffic is pretty gridlocked and......

Following the lead of many other utilities, the Pasadena City Council on Friday took an official stance against Proposition 7, aka "Big Solar," which will appear on November's ballot asking voters to make utilities supply 20% of their power with renewable sources by 2010, 40% by 2020 and 50% by 2025. Pasadena Water and Power is a municipal owned utility and officials say that if passed, rates could jump 30 to 45%. While most people......

Today, the No on Prop 8 website finally launched, marking an all out assault to make sure gay marriage in California stays put and unbanned. As for the Yes on Prop 8 people, they also announced today that they have relaunched their website... although, it doesn't look much different than it did earlier this week.......

Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist Looks like Orson Scott Card (notably, the author of Ender's Game) wants to pull the right of revolution (the right and duty to "throw off" government) card from the Declaration of Independence. Usually, it's cited in liberal texts, but in a conservative op-ed in the Mormon Times has him ready to take direct action if Prop 8, which seeks to eliminate gay marriage, fails: How long before married people answer......

Photo by Donnay via Flickr Last week, Attorney General Jerry Brown's office changed the language on Proposition 8, the proposed California constitution amendment change that would ban gay marriage if a majority of voters cast a "yes" ballot for it in November. Now, the Yes on Prop 8 people are planning on filing a suit this morning to block the change. The language change basically went from Prop 8 saying it was "to provide......

A couple on their wedding day at WeHo's 'Wedding Park' (more photos here) | Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist "This is overall a victory," Boi from Troy wrote about yesterday's language change in the text of Proposition 8, a November ballot initiative that seeks to keep marriage between a man and a woman only. The original description said this: [Prop 8] Amends the California Constitution to provide that only marriage between a man and a......

Los Angeles' top cop donated money to Equality California, an organization that is trying to stop Proposition 8, which seeks to ban same-sex marriage, from winning on the November ballot, according to the LA Times. "The Constitution guarantees life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," Bratton said. "I see no reason why gays can't pursue happiness through marriage." The donation was a wedding gift for his friends, celebrity publicist Howard Bragman and Chuck O'Donnell (fun......

A new Field Poll on Proposition 8, which proposes to limit marriage only between a man and a woman in California, says that it will fail by a slim majority (51%). In 2000, a similar proposition denying gay marriage was approved by 61%. Yes on Prop 8 people say the poll understates the support to ban gay marriage in the state (and others are calling them out their rebuttal). A May 23 poll by the......

This week, supporters of defeating Proposition 8 before it even hit November's ballot lost the battle. If approved, it will have the state only recognize marriage between a man and a woman, therefore making same-sex marriage a thing of the past. They argued the prop "involves a constitutional revision that can't be adopted through a ballot vote," says CNN, who also says they "contended that petitions circulated to qualify the proposition for the ballot contained......

They keep piling on. Today, "the governor placed a $900 million bond measure on the ballot to provide low-interest home loans to returning veterans of current and recent wars," reports John Myers at KQED's Capitol Notes. And there could be more to come, he says. Three of them could be a water bond, a budget reform proposal and a reform of the lottery initiative to raise money for the state budget. Now that's fifteen props......

California and Weed | Anti/LAist We had a very big story on LAist, that got a lot of people excited about the potential for a new system that would legalize weed for all adults to be put on the ballot this November. The excitement was fueled with the hope of many that the nearly 700,000 signatures by Sept. 5, 2008 appeared very likely. The only question that was at the front of everyone's mind......

Cupcakes from West Hollywood's Wedding Park Day (more photos here) | Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist Remember when the IRS investigated All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena for a sermon that they thought might void the church's tax-exempt status due to political endorsement during the 2004 Presidential Race (it was a What Would Jesus Do if he were Bush or Kerry on the war)? Now churches in California, including one nonprofit, are using their pulpits......

One person, one vote. | Photo by HEI ! via Flickr As it gets closer to the November election, more and more propositions are being qualified for the ballot. Most notably is Prop. 8 (pdf), something that's been talked about for a couple months now. It's the state constitution amendment change that would limit marriage in California, effectively stopping the same-sex marriages that have just begun. Amends the California Constitution to provide that only......

Not so fast hotel builders and Bevelry Hills politicians. Residents who fought (see the protest photos here) to keep the Beverly Hilton from turning into a new huge hotel/condo project have gotten their issue qualified for the November ballot, according to LA County who counted and verified the petition signatures. The Beverly HIlls city "council could decide to put the issue before the voters, or repeal the resolution which was the subject of the referendum......

Photo taken yesterday at West Hollywood Park by Tom Andrews/LAist Now that same-sex marriage is here for a joyful four-point-five months before Californians determine the fate of the institution when voting on the California Marriage Protection Act in November, it's going to be a fight. Each poll varies on the outcome of what Californians think, but for the most part, results are negligible and the state seems split 50-50. KNBC's political commenter, Sherry Bebitch......

Photo by Adan Garcia via Flickr As an assembly bill that would enable Metro to put a half-cent sales tax increase on November's ballot makes its way towards the state Senate this month, a report released from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) said that such an increase would only cost people $25 extra per year (if the sales tax rate goes up, it will go from 8.25% to 8.75%, "translating to......