California Proposition 39 (2000)
Proposition 39 was an initiative state constitutional amendment and statute which appeared on the November 7th, 2000, California general election ballot. It was passed with 5,431,152 Yes votes, for 53.4 percent of the total votes cast.[1] Its principal effect is to amend Proposition 13, thus lowering the required supermajority necessary in order for voters to approve local school bond acts, from 2/3 of all votes cast, to fifty-five percent (55%).[2] Proposition 39 bonds are sometimes referred by taxpayers as Coupal bonds. This is named after Jon Coupal who, as president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, was in charge of the unsuccessful opposition campaign to Proposition 39. Proposition 39 was essentially a milder version of Proposition 26, which would have ended the Proposition 13 supermajority altogether (imposing a simple majority vote requirement),[3] but which was defeated with 3,521,327 "Yes" votes, for 48.7 percent of the total votes cast, in the March 7th, 2000 California primary election.[4] Proposition 39 also included statutory provisions relating to charter school facilities.
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