April 19, 2009
EDITORIAL: Vote no on state props

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2009/04/19/opinion/editorials/z614786d7099075db8825759900009b94.txt

Voters, including those who will receive absentee ballots this week for the May 19 election, should vote "no" on the first three propositions (Propositions 1A, 1B and 1C) of the set of six. On the latter three (Props. 1D, 1E and 1F), we are ambivalent.

The state's broken fiscal system desperately needs reform, not the complex and expensive "kick the can down the road" these measures provide. The argument that this is the best voters can hope for, given the Legislature's irresponsibility in budgeting, isn't an answer.

Briefly: State Prop. 1A would "stabilize" the budget and alter the state's "rainy day" fund by, in part, raising $16 billion in taxes over an extra two-year span (beyond the temporary taxes imposed earlier this year). It does so by using the language of a spending cap that is, in reality, a fiction because it doesn't limit spending (it allows spending to increase as new taxes are imposed).

State Prop. 1B is the orphan child of 1A. It would earmark $9.3 billion for education at the expense of nearly everything else by saying schools get first dibs on being repaid their "lost revenue."

And Prop. 1C pretends to make the State Lottery a winner for the general fund ---- however, lotteries are in reality a regressive tax, albeit a voluntary one.

Props. 1D and 1E, amount to "you pick 'em" status in our minds. The latter diverts a portion of the cigarette tax (passed in 1998) to the general fund. The former does a similar trick with the 1 percent surcharge assessed on incomes over $1 million a year passed in 2004 (the then-Prop. 64) that has been earmarked for mental health funding.

Only Prop. 1F is really worth a "yes" vote, although it is a largely symbolic shoe thrown at our leaders: It would deny raises to legislators in years when the state budget runs a deficit.

These are the products of a deeply flawed budget process that does not address the root problem of governing in California ---- that our appetite for the public trough is bigger than our willingness to pay for the meal.

No serious reform of state expenditures has been undertaken, and it appears none will be forthcoming until the state is pushed into a real crisis.

California operates with a complex and burdensome tax system. Tax dollars are collected and shipped to Sacramento where, out of the grasp of local communities, decisions are made on what will be spent where. Democrats run things with the complicit nod of the Republicans, who mutter "no new taxes" with a leering wink, and none are serious about taxpayers' interest.

These representatives should embrace the adage about finances: Cut the cloth to fit.

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