Six ballot measures qualify to go before voters in November

California voters will get to weigh in on six ballot measures this November, including a proposal to reform criminal sentencing and a Gov. Jerry Brown-backed plan for a rainy-day fund.

Thursday was the cutoff for measures to qualify for the ballot. That deadline is flexible for legislators, who have waived rules in the past to place measures on the ballot later in the summer.

The Legislature has placed two measures on the ballot so far. One is a rainy-day fund plan, a product of bipartisan negotiations this spring.

There’s also an $11.1-billion water bond plan, which was originally written in 2009. That bond has been criticized as being too bloated with earmarks. Legislators have delayed putting it on the ballot twice, and are now seeking to craft a new water bond plan to replace it.

Three initiatives and one referendum were placed on the ballot after proponents collected enough signatures to qualify. They are:

--An initiative to give the state insurance commissioner more authority to regulate health insurance rates. The measure is backed by insurance commissioner Dave Jones, who is running for re-election, and consumer groups; a coalition of insurance groups and medical providers oppose it.

--A measure to raise the cap on certain medical malpractice damages and require drug testing for doctors. In what will likely be a bruising and expensive initiative fight, trial attorneys and consumer groups are battling doctors, medical providers and some major labor unions.

--A referendum to overturn two tribal-state gaming compacts with the North Fork Rancheria Band of Mono Indians and the Wiyot Tribe.

--An initiative backed by San Francisco Dist. Atty. George Gascón and former San Diego Police Chief William Landsdowne to reform certain criminal sentences. This measure, the final one to be certified for the November ballot, would reduce some crimes, such as petty theft, forging checks and certain drug possession offenses, from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Other measures may make their way onto the November ballot. Lawmakers are considering a school construction bond measure and a constitutional amendment to suspend lawmakers for misconduct without pay.

The latter came after a string of ethics woes prompted the state Senate to suspend three senators. Because the state Constitution does not allow withholding pay from a suspended lawmaker, the senators continue to draw a paycheck.

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