The Legislature passed, and the Governor signed, SB 113 (Calderon) which moves the Presidential Primary to February 5, 2008, to encourage presidential candidates to campaign in California and to debate and address issues and policies important to California and provide the people of California with a major role in deciding the presidential nominees. Twenty-three states will hold primaries or caucuses on February 5, 2008.
In a related matter concerning the presidential election of 2008, SB 37 (Migden), which is still in the Assembly, would have California agreeing to award its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that received the most popular vote nationwide, if certain conditions are met. Also, at the time of this writing, there is an initiative circulating to allocate the state's electoral votes based on how each congressional district voted.
The February 5th primary will have the following propositions on which to vote:
1-The Transportation Funding Protection Act of 2006 prohibiting retention of funds earmarked for the Transportation Investment Fund in the General Fund for use unrelated to transportation after July 1, 2008.
2-Establishing, in the State Constitution, a system of independent public community college districts and board of governors and generally requiring minimum levels of state funding for school districts and community college districts to be calculated separately using different criteria and separately appropriated.
3-Enacting the Term Limits and Legislative Reform Act reducing the total amount of time a person may serve in the Legislature from 14 years to 12 years. Allowing a person to serve a total of 12 years either in the Assembly, the Senate, or a combination of both. Providing a transition period to allow current members to serve a total of 12 consecutive years in the house in which they are currently serving, regardless of any prior service in another house.