Proposition 99

With early returns showing Proposition 98 facing heavy rejection from voters statewide, Yes on 98 is conceding.

The ballot measure aimed to limit government’s power of eminent domain while phasing out rent control.

“Since California is among the biggest abusers of eminent domain in the country, our coalition cannot abandon efforts to restore private property rights in California, and will continue to hold government accountable for eminent domain abuse,” said Jon Coupal, the president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, an organization supported the measure.

With 12 percent of the votes counted statewide, Proposition 98 was supported by just 44.6 percent.

A new poll released less than a week before voters head to the polls on June 3 shows statewide ballot Propositions 98 and 99 receiving less than the necessary 50 percent support to pass. Both propositions aim to address the issue of eminent domain.

The survey, conducted by the Field Poll, shows Proposition 98, a measure that would restrict government’s ability to seize private property while phasing out rent control, receiving just 33 percent support with 43 percent opposed. Proposition 99, an alternative measure that is less restrictive in prohibiting governmental seizure and that lacks the rent control component, picks up more support. 48 percent said they would support the measure and 30 percent said they would not.

The poll of 660 likely voters, conducted May 17-May 26, has a margin of error of 4.1 percent.

The campaign to defeat proposition 98, a statewide measure that aims to limit the government’s ability to seize private property while phasing out rent control, is out with its first television advertisement of the cycle.

The 30-second spot emphasizes the campaign’s central message: that the measure is a veiled attempt to benefit landlords and that it would harm tenants. The ad also highlights the opposition of the AARP to the measure.

“AARP, the nation’s leading senior organization, strongly opposes Proposition 98,” an announcer says. An elderly man then states, “Prop. 98 is a deceptive scheme by a few wealthy landlords to eliminate rent control. “98 also enables unfair evictions of seniors and other renters so that rents can be raised without limits. And 98 creates loopholes for landlords so that they can get around laws that protect our environment. Stop this shameful deceptive scheme. Vote no on 98.”

Less than two weeks before California voters head to the polls to decide on the fates of Propositions 98 and 99, the dueling measures that aim to address the issue of eminent domain, a new poll shows both measures receiving less than the required 50 percent needed to pass.

The survey, conducted by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, shows Proposition 98, which aims to limit the government’s ability to seize private property while phasing out rent control, with 30 percent support. 48 percent say they would vote no on the measure and 22 percent say they are unsure.

The poll shows Proposition 99, a measure that is less restrictive in limiting the government’s seizure powers and that omits the rent control component, receiving 44 percent support. 36 percent said they would not support the measure and 20 percent say they are unsure.

The campaign for Proposition 98, which seeks to ban government from taking private property such as homes, businesses, and churches and converting it for other private use, is out with its second radio advertisement this week.

The advertisement, which focuses on a project to seize land and develop property on the Los Angeles community of Baldwin Park, casts the issue in a common man versus the government light.

“It's the city council that's taking our business. They want to get rid of the working-class people for higher income people. You know, it doesn't sound American to me. The Constitution says something about ‘Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.’ How come not us?” Ken Woods, the small business owner of Woods N’ Sons, says in the advertisement.