Americans Advance ALEC Policy Ideas on 2024 State Ballot Measures
On 2024 ballot measures throughout the nation, Americans sent a resounding message that is consistent with ALEC model policy: US elections and votes must be safeguarded.
Ranked choice voting (RCV) was defeated nearly everywhere it was on the ballot. RCV measures failed resoundingly in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and South Dakota. The exception was Washington, DC where it passed overwhelmingly. The repeal of RCV in Alaska is likely to pass as well. The preemptive prohibition of RCV passed in Missouri but failed in Arizona.
Non-citizen voting prohibitions that protect the voices of Americans (another ALEC model policy) passed everywhere they were on the ballot. Those states include Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.
Unsurprisingly, teachers unions mobilized against parents and poured millions of dollars into ballot measure campaigns to restrict education freedom. Colorado likely will not enshrine a right to school choice in K-12 education; Kentucky’s constitutional amendment to allow public funding of private education failed; and Nebraska’s veto referendum to repeal public funding of private education passed.
Tax measures were generally a mixed bag, as were minimum wage measures. The Illinois advisory question recommending a “millionaire tax” passed, and the repeal of Washington’s capital gains tax failed. Washington also chose not to prohibit carbon tax credit trade. However, Oregon’s measure to implement a corporate minimum tax to fund universal basic income failed.
Alaska will likely increase its minimum wage to $15, while Missouri’s is set to go to $15 an hour. California, on the other hand, will likely see fail its ballot measure to increase the minimum wage to $18 per hour.