Repealing a provision in California's constitution with racist roots has hit a snag, illustrating the importance of money in politics even as formal opposition to its revocation is yet to organize.
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California has the only law in the U.S. that lets voters veto public housing projects. In 1950, 50.8% of state voters chose to add Proposition 10 to the California Constitution. The measure, effectively, was intended to keep Black families out of white neighborhoods.
A repeal effort failed in 1993, garnering just 40.2% of the statewide vote. Nearly 30 years later, most everyone in the Capitol agrees the provision should be repealed because of its racist roots and how it makes building affordable housing much harder in a state where housing is desperately needed.
"We're the only state that has this law," State Sen. Steve Bradford, a Democrat representing parts of Los Angeles County who also chairs the California Legislative Black Caucus, told KCBS Radio. "We should hold our heads in shame."
California voters would have to approve a constitutional amendment in order for the Legislature to repeal the law. That, in turn, would necessitate a statewide campaign with media buys that could cost in the neighborhood of $20 million.
“It’s so much misinformation that will be coming from the folks who want to keep it intact that it would drown out the folks who want to make the change,” Bradford said of a potential lack of spending in favor of repealing the law.
California ballot measure committees aren’t subject to contribution limits, leading to massive spending disparities. In 2020, Uber, Lyft, Instacart and other proponents of Proposition 22 donated more than $205 million to a committee in favor of it, according to state records. The largest committee opposing the proposition raised just shy of $19 million.
One potential source of funding for the campaign to repeal the law is the California Association of Realtors. The group was largely responsible for getting the law passed in 1950, and its political action committee has contributed about $4.85 million during this election cycle.
"I'm happy that they see a need for change, but how committed are they, really, if they’re not willing to help fund this," Bradford said, floating out "plenty of billionaires here in California who talk social justice" as others who could potentially fund a repeal effort.
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