Proposition 8 was an amendment of the Constitution of California relating to the assessment of property values. It was proposed by the California State Legislature

California State Legislature

The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...

 and approved by voters in a referendum

Referendum

A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...

 held on 7 November 1978.

The amendment was necessitated by the passage of Proposition 13

California Proposition 13 (1978)

Proposition 13 was an amendment of the Constitution of California enacted during 1978, by means of the initiative process. It was approved by California voters on June 6, 1978. It was declared constitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Nordlinger v. Hahn,...

in June of the same year. Proposition 8 allowed for a reassessment of real property values in a declining market. For this purpose it amended Article 13A of the state constitution, which had been added by Proposition 13. Today a reassessment based on a decline in market value is called a "Proposition 8" reassessment.

External links

• California Voters Pamphlet, November 1978 (excerpt on Proposition 8)
• California Voters Pamphlet, November 1978 (in full)