An initiative that would have authorized the state to issue residence permits to immigrants without legal permission to live in the country failed to receive enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot, the Secretary of State’s Office announced.

What author Louis J. Marinelli dubbed “The California Immigration Reform Act” would also have created a new state department to administer the permit system, require permit holders to pay state income taxes and make permit holders eligible for certain public benefits.

The initiative would also have prohibited state and local governments from using public funds to support or otherwise participate in federal immigration enforcement against permit holders.

Backers needed to submit valid signatures from 365,880 registered voters — 5 percent of the total votes cast for governor in the 2014 general election — by Dec. 21 to have qualified the measure for the ballot.

The amount of valid signatures submitted was not announced.

—City News Service

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