During the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, when levels of inequality were as sky-high as they are today, progressive reformers fought for the right to use citizen-led petition campaigns to circumvent the power of economic elites.
This right is now available in 24 states and Washington, DC, through ballot initiatives. And in a year in which Bernie Sanders pushed inequality into the center of the primary debates, it’s not surprising that many of the 2016 initiatives reflect the public’s growing outrage over our return to Gilded Age-level divides.
Of course corporate-backed groups are putting up big money to undercut this form of direct democracy. But North Dakota voters already notched one victory for the little guy in their June primary when they voted 3-to-1 to uphold rules prohibiting corporate farming. Here are some of the other key inequality-related state ballot initiatives we’ll be watching on election night.
1. Tax increases on the wealthy and corporations (California, Oregon, Maine)
In 2012, California temporarily raised state income taxes on millionaires to the highest in the country, with a rate of 13.3 percent on incomes over $1 million. In the years following, the Golden State economy has flourished, disproving conservative economists‘ predictions that calamity would ensue. Voters will decide on Tuesday whether to extend this tax increase, and the $4 billion-$9 billion in annual revenue that would come with it, for another dozen years.
Oregon’s corporate taxes on large and profitable corporations are the lowest in the country. The group A Better Oregon is working to change that through Measure 97, which would raises rates on corporations with over $25 million in sales in the state, with revenue earmarked to fund education, health care, and senior services.
Question 2 on Maine’s ballot would add a 3 percent tax on the incomes of households earning more than $200,000 a year. The initiative would further reduce inequality by channeling revenue…