As of February 2nd, the Secretary of State cleared five more ballot initiatives for circulation. The total amount now cleared for circulation is 74.

Highlights include:

-1444: An initiative statue to impose additional tax on cigarettes for cancer research. It would levy an additional one dollar per pack tax as way to create a fund geared specifically for financing research about detecting, preventing, treating, and curing cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and other tobacco-related diseases. See the full text here.

-1446: An initiative constitutional amendment and statute that would impose a wealth tax. Here’s the summary from the Secretary of State’s web site: “Imposes one-time tax of 55% on certain real and personal property in California exceeding $15 million if single, $20 million if married. Imposes one-time tax of up to 54.3% on income exceeding $5 million when resident dies or leaves California. Imposes additional 17.5% tax on total incomes exceeding $150,000 if single, $250,000 if married; 35% if incomes exceed $350,000 if single, $500,000 if married. Creates tax credits. Requires State to acquire shares of specified corporations for purposes of influencing environmental practices.” See full text here.

-1448: An initiative statute that expands types of criminal conduct that constitute human trafficking and increases criminal penalties. The increase in human penalties that the title cites includes longer prison sentences and larger fines. See full text here.

The other two cleared for circulation are 1445, which basically changes the legislative vote requirement necessary to pass the state budget from two-thirds to a simple majority, and 1447, which imposes additional requirements for legislature to approve certain state fees and taxes and for voters to approve certain local taxes and fees. See full descriptions here and here.