I SURE WOULD LIKE TO LEAVE CALIFORNIA AFTER THIS … MAYBE TEXAS OR SOUTH CAROLINA: I’ve told Instapundit readers a bit about ACA7 already. It’s the new proposal to nullify Proposition 209–the 1996 initiative that banned preferential treatment based on race, sex, and ethnicity.
ACA7 passed the Assembly in this past fall. We’re trying to stop it in the Senate. That would save everyone a lot of time and money. Referendum campaigns are very expensive and time consuming. If we fail to stop ACA7 in the Senate, it will be on the ballot in November, and 2024 will be a wasted year for me and my fellow “NO on ACA7” volunteers. I don’t mean wasted in the sense of doing something useless … opposing ACA7 is important … but wasted in the sense that we shouldn’t have defend Prop 209 TWICE.
As you may recall, the last effort to repeal Proposition 209 was less than four years ago. That effort (known as Prop 16) was well financed. The proponents of the repeal had more than 14 times the amount of money we had. But we beat the pants off ’em anyway. Over 57% of voters rejected it.
Three differences could matter this time–one that cuts against us and two that cut against ACA7. It’s much trickier than Prop 16 was, and that’s a problem for us. It purports to just create a procedure for making exceptions to Prop 209. In practice, the exceptions will swallow the rule. We’ll need to work hard to make sure voters understand that. The good news is that we have excellent reason to believe that we will be better financed than last time. Last time, big donors thought we were going to lose. They didn’t want to waste their money. Now they see that we can win, and some are excited to help. The second thing that cuts against ACA7 is that this time around it is associated with the reparations movement. Reparations are not exactly a popular cause. California wasn’t even a slave state. But the California Legislature’s Black Caucus has designated ACA7 as part of its “2024 Reparations Legislative Package,” so I guess they think it will fly.
Maybe they were misled by the report of the California Task Force on Reparations, which claims that over 60% of Californians support reparations. But they only got that number by asking a loaded question:
The California Reparations Report claims that over 60% of Californians favor reparations. But that’s because they asked this LOADED question: “For the atrocities in California, I support/oppose the following specific measures for eligible Blacks.” That’s grossly misleading.… pic.twitter.com/3gBkknnKWk
— Gail Heriot (@GailHeriot) February 13, 2024
A much more professional poll showed that Californians oppose cash reparations by more than a 2 to 1 margin. That poll showed the support for other kinds of reparations was weak too. Only 29% of those polled thought Calif was doing “too little” for African Americans. By contrast, 48% said either “too much” or “about the right amount.” With those numbers, it is very unlikely that a majority can be mustered for reparations of any kind.
If you’re so inclined, please sign the petition, email senators, and/or like/retweet my tagged “No on ACA7” tweets. The software for emailing senators allows you to either send a form letter or copy the senators’ addresses and transfer them over to your own email system where you can write your own message.
Meanwhile, I’m going to Sacramento today to talk to Senators and their staff members. Wish me luck.