This will be voted on in your canton
In addition to the four national templates, regional templates are also used in various cantons. All information can be found here.
On February 13, eight cantons will vote on a total of ten proposals. In addition, the city of Zurich elects a new parliament and a new government. Here is an overview of all cantonal votes:
Basel countryside
In the canton of Basel-Landschaft, two cantonal templates are on the agenda for February 2022:
Initiative for climate protection
The initiative calls for a climate law with which the Basel government can achieve the Paris climate goals. The goals of the Paris Agreement include limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees and net zero CO₂ emissions since 2050. Energy supply, transport, agriculture and the financial markets would be affected by the initiative.
Constitutional amendment to initiatives
So far, initiators in the canton of Basel-Landschaft have had unlimited time collecting signatures. A new period of 18 months is to be introduced for this purpose.
Basel city
Fundamental rights for primates
The cantonal people’s initiative “Basic rights for primates” demands that over 300 primate species be given a “right to life and to physical and mental integrity”. These include, for example, gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans. According to the reasoning of the association Sentience Politics, animal protection does not go far enough for primates.
All apes should have the right to life and physical and mental integrity.Image: Keystone
Bern
Ecological control of road vehicles
Road vehicles are now to be controlled according to ecological factors. For this reason, the level of the levy will soon not only depend on the weight, but also on the CO₂ emissions of the vehicle. In the future, weight and engine performance will be decisive for motorcycles.
The Grand and Government Council want to increase the revenue from this tax by 40 million francs. For this purpose, the individual taxation of the residents should be reduced to the same extent.
Geneva
Housing with priority for the residents
The bill “Pour la priorité du logement aux habitants” (in English: “Housing with priority for the residents”) calls for an amendment to the housing law in Geneva. In the future, a person applying for social housing will not only have to pay their taxes in Geneva, but will also have lived in the canton for at least four consecutive years instead of two.
Lucerne
Share capital increase of the cantonal hospital
Due to the corona pandemic, hospitals had to postpone many interventions in the intensive care units and employ additional workers. For these reasons, the Luzerner Kantonsspital (LUKS) suffered a loss of CHF 25.9 million in 2021.
In order to cushion the consequences of the pandemic, the canton now wants to carry out a share capital increase of CHF 25.9 million. This is to ensure that the cantonal hospital of the canton of Lucerne remains creditworthy and survives the crisis.
Schaffhouse
In the canton of Schaffhausen, two packages of tax cuts are being presented to the people:
Tax attractiveness of the place of residence
Schaffhausen wants to make itself more attractive as a place to live. To do this, taxes should be reduced. Specifically, the amount of insurance deductions will increase and property tax will also be reduced. The government estimates that 80 percent of taxpayers should benefit from the increased deductions and 40 percent from the wealth tax cut. The tax losses for this amount to 7.5 million Swiss francs annually for the canton and 6.9 million Swiss francs for the municipalities.
Temporary Corona tax cut
The corona pandemic not only poses challenges for the healthcare system, but also for the economy and the population. The canton is therefore initiating temporary tax cuts until 2024. Private individuals and companies should benefit equally from this. The annual shortfall in revenue for this is calculated at 6.8 million francs for the canton and 0.8 million francs for the communes.
Solothurn
Support for hospitals and clinics in the canton of Solothurn
The hospitals in Solothurn are also suffering financially from the burden of the corona pandemic. Many healthcare facilities were in the red in 2012 due to complex treatments for Covid sufferers and postponed interventions.
In the spring of 2021, the Solothurn voters approved a loan of CHF 16 million for the hospitals in the canton. But the money for the cases is not enough. The total expenditure of the expenditure calculates around 41 million francs for the year 2020. Another loan is now being voted on to cover the remaining cases in 2020.
law
Transparency Initiative
In the Jura, the Greens and the SP want to create more transparency in party financing. Her initiative demands that political parties, campaign committees and any organization involved in elections and referendums disclose their sources of funding.
Zurich
New parliament and new government
Renewal elections for the municipal council, city council and city council are taking place in the city of Zurich today. A brief overview of all candidates and the results of the voting Sunday can be found here.
(cst)