UCLA hosts an election series to help voters understand 2024 state and local ballot measures

With the November election now weeks away, UCLA Government and Community Relations, the UCLA Alumni Association and the Luskin School of Public Affairs will host a pair of educational events to offer insight about some of the state and local measures on voters' ballots.

Both conversations, which can be attended in person or on Zoom, will be moderated by Jim Newton, a lecturer in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and founding editor in chief of UCLA Blueprint, a magazine covering the university's latest public policy research. Newton, who also lectures in the department of communications studies, is an expert on Los Angeles and California government and politics.

"Part of the university's obligation is to engage in the civic life of this city and state - these events are meant to help fulfill that obligation," said Newton, who spent 25 years as an editor, reporter, columnist and bureau chief with the Los Angeles Times. "It's important that UCLA and the people here participate in state government and politics."

The series begins on Oct. 9 with "Understanding Key 2024 State Ballot Measures." Shane Phillips, housing initiative project manager from the Luskin School's Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, and Dean Florez, the former California state senator who earned a bachelor's degree in political science from UCLA, will discuss statewide measures, primarily Propositions 33 and 36.

If passed, Proposition 33 would repeal the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which limits the rent control laws of cities and counties, and has been cited by opponents as having exacerbated Californian housing crises.

Proposition 36 would roll back parts of 2014's Proposition 47, which reduced punishments for some theft and drug crimes. Proposition 36 would increase penalties for some theft and drug crimes drug offenses, including for people with two or more past convictions for certain theft crimes. The measure also allows for people who possess illegal drugs to be charged with "treatment-mandated felonies" instead of a misdemeanor in some cases. Those who do not finish treatment could serve up to three years in state prison.

Propositions 33 and 36 are among the 10 statewide measures that voters will decide in November. Other measures include:

• Proposition 3, which would amend the California Constitution to stop defining marriage as only between a man and a woman and enshrine marriage as a "fundamental right" for all;
• Proposition 32, which would raise California's minimum wage to $18 and annually adjust it for inflation; and
• Proposition 2, which would authorize $10 billion in bonds to public schools and community colleges, but not to the University of California or California State University systems.

On Oct. 15, "Understanding Key 2024 Local Ballot Measures," will focus on three measures local to Los Angeles city and county, including one that addresses potential corruption. The panel includes UCLA professors Michael Lens, an associate professor of urban planning and public policy at the Luskin School; Gary Segura, former Luskin School dean; and Zev Yaroslavsky, who leads the Luskin School's Los Angeles Initiative and who served as an elected official in Los Angeles for over 40 years. (Disclosures: Segura is an advisor to Kamala Harris' campaign in 2024.)

The panelists will analyze:

• Charter Amendment DD, which would create an independent redistricting commission, preventing city council members from favorably drawing their own districts. Born out of a 2022 scandal in which leaked audio recordings caught Los Angeles City Council members scheming to gerrymander council districts, proponents argue that Charter Amendment DD would help prevent such corruption in the future.
• County Measure G is similarly intended to target corruption by creating a county ethics commission, an independently elected executive, and expanding the Board of Supervisors to nine, shrinking Los Angeles County's supervisorial districts.
• County Measure A would repeal the Measure H tax, approved in 2017, and raise the county's sales tax by a half-cent to fund homelessness services.

Jennifer Poulakidas, associate vice chancellor for government and community relations, said the upcoming forum events were created to provide voters with more information on potentially confusing ballot measures.

Both events will be free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Event co-hosts include UCLA School of Law, UCLA Health, the Latino Policy and Politics Institute, UCLA Campus Life and the UCLA Community Programs Office.