11-01-2018 State-wide Ballot Proposals include legalizing recreational marijuana use, 10-year redist

State-wide Ballot Proposals include legalizing recreational marijuana use, 10-year redistricing mandate and voter registration changes; local ballot issues include Coloma Schools operating millage, VanBuren Road  Commission millage and Dowagiac District Library funding

By Annette Christie

Statewide Proposal 18-1 Legalizes Recreational Marijuana Voters will be asked to consider a proposed initiated law to authorize and legalize possession, use and cultivation of marijuana products by individuals who are at least 21 years of age and older, and commercial sales of marijuana through state-licensed retailers. This proposal would allow individuals 21 and older to purchase, possess and use marijuana and marijuana-infused edibles and grow up to 12 marijuana plants for personal consumption. It would impose a 10-ounce limit for marijuana kept at residences and require amounts over 2.5 ounces be secured in locked containers. A state licensing system would be created for marijuana businesses and allow municipalities to ban or restrict them. It would permit sales of marijuana and edibles subject to a 10% tax, dedicated to implementation costs, clinical trials, schools, roads, and municipalities where marijuana businesses are located. Included in the law would be changes for several current violations involving marijuana from crimes to civil infractions. The Berrien County Police Services Council opposes the passage of the recreational marijuana ballot initiative. In a press release authorized by the Council it states that the ballot initiative that will be presented to the voters is vague and poorly written. This will cause ongoing civil and criminal legal issues just as the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act still does since it passed in 2008. Studies in Colorado, where recreational marijuana is legal, have shown teens use marijuana at a rate 50% higher than the national average and their rate is growing faster than the national average. Both Colorado and California have experienced a 100% increase in marijuana related traffic fatalities following legalization. Traffic fatalities also doubled in the state of Washington in the year following legalization. Driving under the influence of marijuana is particularly problematic for law enforcement as there is not an acceptable chemical test, other than blood, that can be used. This is further complicated by the fact that the specific type of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) that law enforcement needs to test for dissipates rapidly in a person’s blood. The legalization of marijuana edibles also raises serious public safety concerns. Many of these edibles take the form of candy, such as suckers and gummy bears, or desserts, such as cookies and brownies. This poses a threat to young children who are unable to tell the difference from foods containing THC and those that don’t. This is especially troublesome because edibles are usually designed to be consumed over a period of hours or days, not immediately as a whole. While a small bite of a gummy bear may help an adult, a child who eats a handful will likely end up suffering medical consequences. This has been shown in Colorado where there was a 44% increase in marijuana-related hospital visits from 2012 to 2014. “The legalization of recreational marijuana is unsafe for Michigan,” stated the Berrien County Police Services Council. Berrien County Prosecutor Mike Sepic appealed to the Berrien County Board of Commissioners at their October 18 meeting to pass a resolution opposing the legislation. He raised many of the same points as the Police Services Council and was joined by Berrien County Undersheriff Chuck Heit. The board ultimately passed a resolution opposing the passage of Proposal 1 that day. The supporters of the legislation are a coalition effort. The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) played a leading role in organizing the drafting committee, which included the ACLU of Michigan, Drug Policy Alliance, MI Legalize, National Patient Rights Association, Michigan NORML, lawyers representing the Marijuana Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan, Michigan Cannabis Coalition, and others. The campaign will be made up of a broad coalition of supporters with support from local and national organizations. MPP is the nation’s largest marijuana policy organization and has a large group of supporters in Michigan, thanks to its role in passing the Michigan medical marijuana initiative in 2008. MPP has a strong track record of supporting successful marijuana initiative campaigns. Most recently, it coordinated the successful campaigns to regulate marijuana like alcohol in Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada in 2016, and it contributed to the successful campaign in California. It also coordinated the campaigns to pass similar initiatives in Colorado in 2012 and Alaska in 2014.

Statewide Proposal 18-2 Constitutional Amendment to redistrict every 10 years A proposed constitutional amendment to establish a commission of citizens with exclusive authority to adopt district boundaries for the Michigan Senate, Michigan House of Representatives and U.S. Congress every 10 years. The proposed amendment would create a commission of 13 registered voters randomly selected by the Secretary of State including four each who self-identify as affiliated with the two major political parties and five who self-identify as unaffiliated with major political parties. It would prohibit partisan officeholders and candidates, their employees, certain relatives and lobbyists from serving as commissioners. It would establish new redistricting criteria including geographically compact and contiguous districts of equal population, reflecting Michigan’s diverse population and communities of interest. Districts shall not provide disproportionate advantage to political parties or candidates. It would require an appropriation of funds for commission operations and commissioner compensation.

Statewide Proposal 18-3 Voter Registration A proposal to authorize automatic and Election Day voter registration, no-reason absentee voting, and straight ticket voting; and add current legal requirements for military and overseas voting and post-election audits to the Michigan Constitution. Passage of the proposal would allow a United States citizen who is qualified to vote in Michigan to become automatically registered to vote when applying for, updating or renewing a driver’s license or state-issued personal identification card, unless the person declines. A Michigan citizen could simultaneously register to vote with proof of residency and obtain a ballot during the two-week period prior to an election, up to an including Election Day. A voter could obtain an absentee voter ballot without providing a reason. A voter could cast a straight-ticket vote for all candidates of a particular party when voting in a partisan general election.

Van Buren County Road Commission Millage increase Van Buren County Road Commissioners will be asking voters again to pass a road millage proposal. At the Primary Election in August, the voters in Van Buren County turned down the road millage proposal by an 11.46% margin. “We believe that if we continue to work hard to educate the voters in Van Buren County about why the road millage is being requested, how the proposed millage funds will be used, and what the millage can do for our County, the results in November may be reversed,” said Linnea Rader, Finance Director, Van Buren County Road Commission. Several public information meetings were held in the months approaching the November election date. In addition, Road Commission staff and Commissioners have been attending service club and organization meetings, such as Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, etc., to help educate and to overcome the misinformation out there. The passage of the proposed road millage will allow the Road Commission to bring the primary road system up to an average rating of “good” as defined by the Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PASER). The primary road network consists of 348 miles of road. Of that, there are 235 miles rated poor, 58 miles rated fair, and 55 miles rated good. These primary roads are the roads driven to get motorists from “here to there”, and may not necessarily be the road in front of each person’s house. The primary roads are the main arteries of the county’s road network, and are important to the motoring public in and throughout Van Buren County. In all, the Van Buren County Road Commission maintains 1,330 miles of road. Voters are asked to approve a 3-mill County-Wide Road Millage for the next 12 years. It is expected to raise $8.2 million for primary road improvements. The goal for this millage will be to reach an overall average rating on the primary road system. The plan would be to touch the entire primary system with some form of treatment to prevent further decline and hold as many miles in “good” condition as possible over the life of the millage. Although the Michigan Legislature passed a new road funding package in 2015, only a portion of that is coming back to the counties. If the millage is passed, every cent of what is raised will go right back into the roads in Van Buren County. It will not go for any pieces of equipment, etc.; it will all go directly back into the roads. The new state road funding package gradually increases the funding provided to the Road Commissions through the Michigan Transportation Fund. The Michigan Transportation Fund is the Road Commission’s main source of funding for maintenance. The current 1-mill levy in Van Buren County has been in place since 1978. Also, most of the townships have their own road millage in place. The Road Commission uses the funding from this levy to leverage Federal and State funds to do larger, more expensive road and bridge projects. Without the current 1-mill levy, the county would not have these necessary local funds. The Road Commission provided some quick facts about their expenses: Asphalt prices went from $24 per ton in 2004 to approximately $60 per ton in 2018. To put that into perspective, for a 1-mile stretch of road to be paved approximately 4” thick, 3,100 tons of asphalt is necessary at a cost of approximately $186,000. In 2004, the same mile of paving would have cost $74,000. In addition, road salt prices hit a high in 2018 at $77.48 per ton. In 2017, the Road Commission paid $43.15 per ton for salt. The Road Commission uses an average of 3,938 tons of salt per winter season. Using this average, road salt costs in 2017 were $169,924.70 compared to $305,116.24 in 2018. Funds for road salt would not be paid through the proposed road millage. If the Road Commission used every single dollar of its funding and applied it to only improve the primary road network and did no routine maintenance (no plowing, no grading, no tree removals of fallen tree clean-up, no pothole patching, etc.), it would take approximately 15 years to make the improvements that are being sought through the new county-wide road millage. The Road Commission is responsible for plowing 2,680 lane miles of roadway. This equates to the approximate distance from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Ft. Myers, Florida and back. Funds for plowing snow would not be paid through the proposed road millage.

Coloma Community Schools Operating Millage Proposal This proposal will allow the school district to levy the statutory rate of not to exceed 18 mills on all property, except principal residence and other property exempted by law, required for the school district to receive its full revenue per pupil foundation allowance and restores millage lost as a result of the reduction required by the “Headlee” amendment to the Michigan Constitution of 1963. The ballot language reads as follows: Shall the currently authorized millage rate limitation on the amount of taxes which may be assessed against all property, except principal residence and other property exempted by law, in Coloma Community Schools, Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan, be renewed by 17.7863 mills ($17.7863 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) for a period of four years, 2019 to 2022, inclusive, and also be increased by .5 mill ($.50 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) for a period of five years, 2018 to 2020, inclusive, to provide funds for operating purposes; the estimate of the revenue the school district will collect if the millage is approved and .2137 mill of the additional .5 mill is levied in 2018 is approximately $40,980 (this is a renewal of a millage that will expire with the 2018 levy and restoration of millage lost as a result of the reduction required by the “Headlee” amendment to the Michigan Constitution of 1963)?

Dowagiac District Library Millage Proposal Shall the Dowagiac District Library, counties of Cass, Berrien and Van Buren, Michigan, be authorized to levy a new additional millage in an amount not to exceed 1.0 mill ($1.00 on each $1,000 of taxable value) against all taxable property within the Dowagiac District Library district for a period of twenty (20) years, 2018 to 2037, inclusive, for the purposes of providing funds for all district library purposes authorized by law, including expanding, renovating, furnishing and equipping the library building and making related improvements? The estimate of the revenue the Dowagiac District Library will collect if the millage is approved and levied by the Dowagiac District Library in the first year (2018) is approximately $523,000. The purpose of the millage is for the expansion and renovation of its historic Carnegie building. The average taxable value of a property in the Library District is $70,000, which means the average homeowner would pay $70 a year. Millage funds will be used to pay on a $7.4 million bond over 20 years for the expansion and renovation of the Library, doubling its size to 15,000 sq. ft. Also included will be renovation of existing spaces, new furnishings, equipment, heating and air conditioning electrical and plumbing systems, and restoration of the front of the Library to its original Carnegie facade. New spaces within the expansion will include a community meeting room, general study and meeting rooms, a teen space, vending area, and expanded popular collections for books and other items. The last update to the building structure was 45 years ago, in 1973. Since 2004 – when they became a district with independent funding – the Library has made major and minor repairs to the structure each year. Visits to the Library have increased dramatically during this time, and the usage has taken its toll. Last year they had over 60,000 visits (up from 38,000 visits 5 years ago and almost double the number of visits of 32,000 in 2007). Much has changed with libraries in the 21st century. Besides books, the library provides movies, newspapers, public computers, Wi-Fi, special events, educational events, and more. Last year they checked out 37,541 items, researched 1,677 questions, and had over 3,500 attendees at their programs. This is the second time that this proposal has been before voters this year. It was voted down in the August primary election.