Education. Elimination Of Two-Thirds Majority Approval For School Bonds. Tobacco Tax For Educational Programs.

EDUCATION. ELIMINATION OF TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY APPROVAL FOR SCHOOL BONDS. TOBACCO TAX FOR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AND STATUTE. Amends Constitution to reduce vote required to pass school construction bond measures from two-thirds to simple majority. Increases cigarette and tobacco tax by five cents per cigarette and equivalent amount for other products. Proceeds would fund new K-12 public education programs providing for mandatory student achievement tests, class and school size reduction, competitive school grants for classroom technology, and teacher qualifications, credentials, scholarships and salary supplements. Mandates 180 days of instruction annually in basic subjects. Limits teachers\u27 professional development days. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: There would be an increase in annual revenues due to higher tobacco taxes of about $1.5 billion, which would slowly decrease in subsequent years. These funds would pay for new K-12 education programs. Long run state school costs in the hundreds of millions of dollars would result from students repeating grades under certain circumstances