Published in the April 29, 2009 edition of the Ventura County Star
According to Aesop’s Fables, the ant toils diligently in the heat of summer, weatherproofing his house and storing supplies for the winter. The grasshopper, on the other hand, who calls the ant a “fool,” wiles away the warmer months in pursuit of personal pleasure. Come the snows, however, the ant is warm and well-fed; the famished grasshopper is stranded out in the cold.
If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California Legislature were writing this cautionary tale, they would simply grant the grasshopper permission to purloin the provisions stockpiled by the farsighted, hard-working ant.
Not only does the so-called budget fix of Schwarzenegger, et al., rely on expanding the state lottery and borrowing $5 billion against future revenues (Proposition 1C) but also seizing $608 million during the next fiscal year and $268 million each year for four more from First 5 (Proposition 1D) as well as siphoning off $460 million over the next two years from mental health care (Proposition 1E).
First 5 found funding when Hollywood’s Rob Reiner championed Proposition 10, which clamped a 50-cent-a-pack tax on cigarettes. Despite well-financed opposition by the tobacco industry, Reiner’s 1998 ballot measure became law. Subsequently, $500 million a year went into the early-childhood development program.
Reiner believes 1D is another sign of the decline of governance in the California republic.
“It’s unbelievably shortsighted on their part,” Reiner told the Los Angeles Times. “These programs are designed to save money for the state — to put children on the right path so they’re not a drain on the system.”
Furthermore, the passage of 1D could endanger the $200 million in First 5 money going to prevent child abuse, according to the Child Abuse Prevention Center’s Sheila Boxley.
In addition, the mental- health funding created in 2004 will likewise be jeopardized by Proposition 1E. Proposition 63, which levied a 1 percent surcharge on taxable income exceeding $1 million, was approved by 54 percent of the voters. The annual take for mental-health programs has ranged from $900 million to $1.5 billion. In the last five years, programs have served more than 200,000 mentally ill, slashed unnecessary emergency-room costs and significantly reduced jail time for the homeless. Under 1E, however, roughly a quarter of mental-health funding would be diverted to balance the state’s books.
So-called “budget surpluses” tattooed bull’s eyes on First 5 and mental-health programs during recent state budget negotiations. These two were targeted for the odious crime of practicing fiscal responsibility: They were guilty of setting aside cash reserves for the lean years or for funding future programs.
“Money’s coming in and we’re doing multiyear planning,” responded Sherry Novick, executive director of the First 5 Association. “This is what state government should be doing. We’re creating a model.”
If Bernie Madoff’s mendacity wasn’t enough for you, read the misleading proposition titles, courtesy of Secretary of State Debra Bowen. Even as Proposition 1D tries to grab $1.7 billion in tobacco taxes earmarked for preschoolers, the title deceives: “Protects Children’s Services Funding.”
Proposition 1E’s “Mental Health Services Funding. Temporary Reallocation” is another lie. Not only will the mentally ill lose, and not just temporarily, but counties such as Ventura, which control mental-health funding at the local level, will end up being trumped by the state forevermore.
A recent Public Policy Institute poll reported likely voters are lukewarm (short of 50 percent) when it comes to supporting Propositions 1D and 1E. Hopefully, they will come to adamantly oppose these measures once they determine the truth.
A Tulchin Research poll released by the “The No on 1D/E Campaign” reports that while Proposition 1D is leading slightly, 48 percent to 42 percent, Proposition 1E is expected to go down, 44 percent to 46 percent. Furthermore, the finding that voters most likely to cast a ballot will vote no may just turn the tide, especially in light of the low voter turnout expected.
So while opponents of 1D/E are heartened that the approval ratings for Schwarzenegger, at 33 percent, and the Legislature, at 11 percent, are at an all-time low, the bad news is that proponents for all propositions are raising a ton of money for direct mailers and boob-tube spots.
“It’s still early, the big money is just starting to be felt,” said California Lutheran University political science professor Herb Gooch. “I think 1F has a good chance to pass; the others, my suspicion is, will fail.”
The League of Women Voters of California, which rarely takes a position on propositions, is recommending a no vote on 1A, 1C, 1D and 1E.
Could the passage of Propositions 1D and 1E throw open the gates to future raids by lawmakers if forced, again, to grapple with the budget? It will be a cold day in you-know-where if it doesn’t. I have it on good authority from the ant.
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