"Voters strongly oppose five special election measures being sold as a budget-reform elixir for California's burgeoning $40 billion deficit," reports Peter Hecht in the Bee.
"But voters in a new Field Poll overwhelmingly support
a measure to bar legislators and state officers from
getting a pay raise when there is a budget deficit.
"And with heightened surliness, they're telling Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature
that they're fed up with more government spending and higher
taxes.
"If there is a message in the latest poll on May 19 special election measures 1A through 1F, it may be that voters want their political leaders
to solve California's fiscal crisis and stop passing the buck through ballot
measures.
"'The majority of voters just doesn't believe what is being sold to them,' said Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo. 'The skepticism extends up and down the ballot."
The numbers:
Proposition 1A (budget stabilization)
Yes: 40%
No: 49%
Proposition 1B (Prop. 98)
Yes: 40%
No: 49%
Proposition 1C (lottery)
Yes: 32%
No: 59%
Proposition 1D (child development funding)
Yes: 40%
No: 49%
Proposition 1E (mental health funding)
Yes: 40%
No: 51%
Proposition 1F (legislators salaries)
Yes: 71%
No: 24%
The Chron's John Wildermuth writes:
"Supporters of the budget measures argue that their defeat will not only smash a hole
in the state budget but also force major cuts in important state programs.
"'We are out campaigning hard for these measures, because
should they fail, it isn't the politicians in Sacramento who will be punished,
it is our teachers, firefighters, children, seniors,
businesses and workers who will be hurt the worst,' said Jeannine English, state president of AARP and
a backer of the measures.
"But that doesn't seem to concern voters, even though they agree, 47 to 41 percent, that defeating the ballot measures will make
the state's budget situation worse.
"Such in-your-face taxpayer rebelliousness is a huge hurdle for Schwarzenegger's efforts to push his ballot measures to victory.
"'They have a long way to go, with just three weeks remaining,' DiCamillo added."
Dan Walters writes that the complexity of the measures and the low opinion voters have for the elected officials trying to sell them are leading to their demise.
And, the liberal groups spending money against Proposition 1A may not like this fact.
"There is one thing 72 percent of the poll's respondents did agree on – that "if the budget measures are defeated it would send a message to the governor and the Legislature that voters are tired of more government spending and higher taxes."
"Even 60 percent of Democrats, who generally are inclined to vote for the measures, concur with that statement."
Looks like somebody's got some messaging to do...
Meanwhile, the National Education Association, which is CTA's parent, dropped another $2 mill in favor of Prop. 1A yesterday.
Well, one thing's for sure: The defeat of those measures will blow a hole in the budget the size of the alleged hole in the Ozone Layer. And Greg Lucas reports more bad news is on the way. Lucas reports state revenue figures for April are off by about $2 billion, in addition to the $8 billion the budget was already out of whack. Add to that another $5 or $6 billion from the defeat of the May 19 measures, and you start to have a very familiar-looking problem.
As Lucas put it, "There’d better be a lot of misplaced or unopened envelopes at the Franchise Tax Board."
In more good financial news, new car sales, a major source of state sales tax, were down 43 percent in the first quarter , the Bee's Dale Kessler reports.
"The state wasted $580,000 by leaving leased office space vacant for four years, and an administrator was improperly reimbursed more
than $70,000 for commuting from her Southern California home to
her Sacramento office, including lodging and meal costs,
California's auditor said Tuesday," reports Patrick McGreevy in the Times.
Speaking of wasted money, "State Auditor Elaine Howle said her office completed nine investigations of whistle-blower claims received during the last six months of
2008 that turned up "substantiated allegations" in several agencies.
"'Through our investigative methods, we found waste of
state funds, improper payments, improper contracting
and misuse of state resources,' Howle wrote to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"Her audit found that the state had paid $580,000 for San Diego office space for the state Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation. But the space sat
unused from December 2004 to December 2008. She blamed a combination of miscommunication and
bureaucratic bungling."
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger renewed his push Tuesday for $3.6 million to help finance college education for the
citizen soldiers of the California National Guard," writes Eric Bailer in the Times.
"The governor called it "unconscionable" that California is the only state in the nation that
does not provide tuition assistance to the men and
women of the Guard.
"'It's a mark of shame on our great state,' said Schwarzenegger at a news conference in the Capitol
rotunda. 'It's a terrible wrong that must be made right.'
"A bill by state Sen. Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto) that proposes college assistance for the Guard is
set for a hearing Wednesday in the Senate Education
Committee."
"California Treasurer Bill Lockyer on Tuesday asked the country's biggest public pension fund to conduct an internal
investigation into investments it made through so-called placement agents, who raise funds for outside asset managers," writes Marc Lifsher on the Times.
"The request to the California Public Employees' Retirement System board is the latest fallout from
investigations by New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo and the Securities and Exchange Commission of alleged
pension-fund improprieties in New York state.
"Lockyer, a CalPERS board member, said he wanted to
ensure that third-party go-betweens did not engage in any inappropriate or unethical
behavior aimed at winning investment deals for their
clients with the giant pension funds.
"'I hope such a review will help the board determine
whether any improper conduct has occurred,' Lockyer wrote. 'I am equally concerned, however, that we use a thorough
review to provide good facts upon which to base the
board's decision to improve its placement agent policy.'
"Lockyer's request is expected to be taken up at a May 11 meeting of the CalPERS board's investment committee."
"Pressure mounted Tuesday for a requirement that California's child protection agencies conduct criminal background
checks on prospective social workers before they can
be hired ," report Marjie Lundstrom and Sam Stanton in the Bee.
"A bill that would require county child welfare agencies
to conduct such checks passed its first test Tuesday
in the Legislature amid guarded questioning by state
senators.
"The proposal by Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, would bar counties from hiring child protection
social workers who have been convicted of assault with
a deadly weapon, felony spousal abuse, child abuse
or a sex offense that requires registration.
"'It only makes sense to me … ,' said Ashburn. 'We're trying to narrow the possibility that children are
further neglected or abused – or worse.'
"Ashburn said his SB 774 stemmed from a Bee series published last month revealing
that at least 7 percent of the employees at Sacramento County's Child Protective Services had criminal histories
in this county."
And congratulations to the Sydney Morning Herald who wins our Roundup Headline of the Day Contest. This one comes from the world of sports.
"Hooker named Indoor Athlete of the Year."
Congratulations to everyone concerned.