Vote YES on Prop's 74, 75, 76, 77

The special Statewide election is fast approaching and we are being bombarded by misleading TV ads. What’s a voter to do?

My approach is a combination of research and expert advice. As you know, I attended the Milken Institute State of the State Conference on Monday 10/31 (“Hallelujah, it’s scAlito”) where the most interesting panel was on the subject of “Budget Policy and Job Creation.” The panelists were Tom Campbell (CA Finance Dept.), Amy Resnick (The Bond Buyer), Ron Ritter (McKinsey & Co.), William Simon (former CA governor candidate), Steve Westley (CA. Controller). The moderator was Ross DuVol (Milken Inst.)

A preliminary poll of the audience asked the question: What is the most serious problem facing California. The posed problems (and %response) were
Budget (41%)
Education (25%)
Economy and Jobs (22%)
Energy (8%)
Health and Human Services (5%)

Frankly, I was really surprised given the progressive character of the Milken Institute and much of the audience. Fully 63% of the participants selected the strongly related Budget, Economy and Jobs categories.

The panelists were asked to pick the one most important reform they would support to address this most important problem.

Tom Campbell said to vote for Prop. 76 that limits state spending to prior year’s level plus three previous years’ average revenue growth. Tom explained that the built in expenditure growth will always exceed the growth in revenues, and he mentioned sweetheart deals for prison guards and teachers as especially bad for the taxpayers.

Another audience poll asked about support for Prop. 76: Yes – 60%, No – 40%, another big surprise!

Amy Resnick said CA needs a better legislature: Vote Yes on Prop. 77. This is the Constitutional Amendment that takes redistricting out of the hands of the legislators themselves.

Ron Ritter said to reduce corporate taxes (8.8%) that are the second highest in the country. CA is one of only two states that charges sales tax on manufacturing equipment. How stupid is that!

Bill Simon said to reduce the regulatory burden on business. CA is the absolutely worst state for small businesses. Companies are moving out of state and CA wages are not the problem.

Steve Westley said we need political backbone at the top, so we should elect him to be Governor. He hates all the Propositions and believes the special Election is a waste. Steve was a loner on the panel and among a distinct minority in the room.

That is until Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa arrived for lunch. His idea was to entice businesses to LA by stressing green requirements. We need to do our share against global warming. Huh??? I guess this is progressive business making. Oh, Antonio hates the Prop’s too.

The Prop’s are doing poorly or well depending on the poll. So far the traditionalists -- Field and PPIC -- have him consistently down and doing worse. The new-fangled polls have him doing better. SurveyUSA uses recorded voices to question voters and very short, snappy questions. Now there is this Stanford poll that uses a scientifically selected sample who give their opinions on-line by filling out a simulated ballot. It also has the governor's slate doing well. (Daniel Weintrub). The findings:
-- Prop 74 Yes 54%
-- Prop 75 Yes 64%
-- Prop 76 No 55%
-- Prop 77 Yes 55%

The Milken folks gave good reasons to support 76 and 77. Those of us who voted for Arnold expect him to reign in the public employee unions. Thus Prop 74 (requiring 5 years for teacher tenure) and Prop 75 (requires unions to get permission from members to use dues for political purposes) are no-brainers. If we don’t vote Yes, then we deserve our mediocre public schools and unaccountable public employees.