Tuesday, June 14, 2005

If you don't live in California, be glad.  If you do... brace yourself.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made official his long rumored plan to call for a special election for later this year.

The Governor wants California voters to approve sweeping changes in state government. Among the issues voters will face, a call to change tenure requirement for teachers to five years of service instead of the current two years. Schwarzenegger also wants to remove the power of the legislature to draw state congressional districts. Instead he wants a panel of retired judges to draw the boundary lines. Schwarzenegger is also calling for a spending cap on state government in an effort to make it easier to reach a balanced budget.

Members of the state's top teachers unions are already geared up to fight the Governor's planned changes to the state's education system. Some unions are raising dues to make sure they have enough money to fight a major media campaign. The Governor has also been raising money for what is expected to be an expensive and bitterly fought campaign.

(Copyright 2005, KRON 4. All rights reserved.)

And how much is it going to cost?

SACRAMENTO — Brushing aside concerns that donors are tapped out and tired, campaign warriors are preparing to spend upward of $100 million on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's special election.

In what otherwise would have been an electoral respite this year, politicians and patrons might have squirreled away money for 2006, when Californians will elect a governor and other statewide officers. But preliminary campaign reports filed with the state show contributions of more than $44 million in the first half of 2005 to the eight initiatives that are expected to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot. "An estimate of $200 million from all parties, I would call that table stakes," said Marty Wilson, Schwarzenegger's main fundraiser. "My guess is that the pot grows from there."

Donors spent $235 million on ballot measures last year, $88 million on the first-ever recall of a sitting
California governor in 2003 and $130 million on the 2002 gubernatorial election….

 A few reactions in response –

"The state of California is today strapped for cash, and I think it is a mistake to spend tens of millions of dollars on a special election, just eight months before a scheduled election. These funds could certainly be used for a much better purpose — like improving our schools or closing the state's budget deficit." — U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat.

"It's especially outrageous that the idea arises from the man who went to Washington in October 2003 bragging that he would be the "collectinator," using his newfound clout to scoop up federal funds for state projects, a promise that turned out to be merely rhetorical. Now that he's ready to be such a spendthrift, he should call himself the 'profligator.'" — U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Burlingame.

"In January of this year, Gov. Schwarzenegger asked the Legislature to work with him on financial, educational and governmental reforms to move California forward. It is unfortunate that the same majority party that found time to propose nearly $3 billion in tax increases this year refused to work with the governor on his reform agenda. It's time the politicians in Sacramento stop treating taxpayer dollars like their personal piggybanks and start acting in the best interest of California's working families." — Duf Sundheim, California Republican Party chairman.

"Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision to call his taxpayer-funded special election is bad for politics and bad for California. Schwarzenegger ran for office as a nonpartisan, nonpolitical reformer. In two years he has devolved into a Bush-lite conservative politician who breaks his promises and sells out working people to satisfy his special-interest corporate donors." — Art Pulaski, California Labor Federation.

"California has a growing health care emergency. But rather than improve health care access or quality, this governor is promoting a plan that will almost certainly produce severe reductions in vital health programs, while seeking to silence the voice of caregivers to protect the safety of patients and all Californians." — Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the California Nurses Association.

"The governor is wasting taxpayer money to hold an election that nobody wants and to push an agenda that will hurt our public schools, kids and local communities. And the plan announced by his advisers to use the election to create a 'phenomenon of anger' against teachers, nurses, firefighters and other public employees breaks his promise to unite our state for public good." — Barbara Kerr, California Teachers Association.


1 comment:

Lan said...

I saw it in the newspaper too. My god this sucks.