California Proposition 63 (2004)

Proposition 63 was a California ballot proposition on the November 2, 2004 ballot. Its official name and title on the ballot was the Mental Health Services Act. It passed with 6,191,691 (53.8%) votes in favor and 5,337,216 (46.2%) against.

The initiative was written by then-Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg (who later became a State Senator) and mental health lobbyist Sherman "Rusty" Selix. In California, only thirteen initiatives affecting taxes have passed. Of these thirteen, only four have increased taxes: Proposition 99 passed in 1988, Proposition 10 passed in 1998, Proposition 63 passed in 2004, and Proposition 30 passed in 2012. The details of the initiative were:

Overall, since the 2004-05 fiscal year, $7.4 billion has been collected and placed into the Mental Health Services Fund.

A later ballot measure, Proposition 1E appeared on the May 19, 2009 special election ballot. This measure would have authorized a fund-shift of approximately $230 million annually in income tax surcharge revenue currently earmarked for Proposition 63. However, the measure was defeated.

The initiative’s objective was to expand mental health programs, expand the availability of services, and reduce state spending on mental health.

Regrettably, since the proposition's passage, chronic homelessness in California has increased, and the state has not seen an increase in psychiatric beds. An important fix to the proposition was introduced in 2015 allowing counties to use proposition 63 funding to implement Laura's Law; however, implementation has been haphazard at best. Moreover, the proposition's funded projects were not integrated with state efforts to reduce criminal justice sentences. This led to a high number of prison releases of mentally ill former inmates who did not receive services or guidance from proposition 63 funded programs. According to the county of Los Angeles, "The reforms may have had the "unintended consequence" of ending post-release support services and court-mandated drug and alcohol treatment for many offenders with mental health and substance abuse issues" The proposition also pre-dated the expansion of Medi-Cal made possible through the Affordable Care Act, which made substance use treatment and mental health services part of the "essential health benefits" of both Medi-Cal and private health insurance plans.

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