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It's worse than "maintain the status quo". It prohibits the state legislature from making any amendments to prop 22 without a 7/8ths majority, and requires any such amendment be "consistent with, and furthers the purpose of" prop 22.

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Wait, how does that even work? You can make a law that says the law can't be repealed by a majority vote? They're not proposing an amendment to the state constitution are they?

(Excuse me if I'm not quite so read up on this topic—I don't live in California.)

A California ballot proposition is indeed one to amend the state constitution.

Prop 22 is a state amendment, but not all propositions are. Some are referendums from the legislature that just pass/enact/repeal normal laws, and others are just new laws without being amendments to the state constitution.

It's not saying the law can't be repealed by majority vote. It's saying the legislature can't change the law without a seven-eights vote. The law can be repealed by voters via another ballot initiative with a simple majority.

By default, laws enacted via ballot initiatives in California can't be amended by the legislature without voter approval. California has some of the strongest protections for citizen initiatives in the country, which comes with plusses and minuses depending on your perspective.

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