By Khalida Sarwari
A small group of teachers, nurses and seniors gathered outside of the state building in San Francisco today to rally against a ballot measure they say is another power grab attempt by the governor.
“Proposition 1A would put the power in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hands and put communities across California at risk for years to come,” said Lupe Rodriguez, a program and policy director with healthcare organization Access.
The measure would increase the size of the state’s rainy day fund from 5 percent to 12.5 percent, using general fund revenues, from which the state would be able to draw only during economic hardship, and has been one of the most controversial of the six-measure state budget reform package that California voters will decide on at a special election on May 19.
Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Julie Soderlund said that, on the contrary, the measure is about responsible government.
“The broader picture about 1A is about putting the Legislature and governor on a responsible saving plan,” Soderlund said. “This measure is about making sure that we don’t fall victim to massive cuts because Legislature has failed to prepare for a downturn.”
Rodriguez and other opponents argued that while the measure would not directly affect this year’s budget, it would lead to systematic cuts later on when the budget would not be adequate to meet the needs of social programs.
Opponents say the measure would funnel funds to state debt repayment, infrastructure projects and future economic downturns, which would force more cuts to education, healthcare and senior programs. Rodriguez said this would create a spending cap, which would make it impossible to instate good health care programs in the future.
“We work with families and communities everyday that survive on the services they receive from the state, so it’ll be really disastrous if the state can’t meet the needs of citizens,” Rodriguez said.
Hene Kelly, a retired teacher who taught in K-12 schools for about 40 years, called Proposition 1A “mean-spirited.”
“It won’t solve the budget problem,” Kelly said. “It gives the governor unilateral power to run the state,” Kelly said.
City College of San Francisco English professor Ed Murray said the college’s budget has been mediocre for years and with less resources, caused by a diversion of revenue to reserve funds, the state would drop from 49th to last in the per-pupil spending percentile.
“It’s a short-term solution, but it doesn’t solve problems in the long-run,” Murray stated.
California Alliance for Retired Americans board member Michael Lyon said the “complicated and awful” measure mostly benefits business, large corporations and “people who are extremely rich.”
“There will be less impetus to raise taxes if raising taxes won’t benefit social programs,” Lyon said.
Lyon called the rainy day fund “useless” and said it would likely be used either on a special spending project or to repay state debt.
The crowd of about 15 included at least one supporter of the measure.
Emily Rusch, an advocate with CALPIRG, said she endorses Proposition 1A because it would smooth out spending.
“It would allow Californians to change our revenue. It says that we can spend within our means,” Rusch said. “If it doesn’t pass, I’m concerned about the state’s fiscal future.”
Across the Bay Area this afternoon, members of the California Teachers Association gathered in San Jose, Foster City, San Lorenzo and Salinas to rally in favor of the measure.
CTA vice president Dean Vogel said the organization is “very, very strongly in support of all the propositions across the board.”
Vogel said the initiative is the funding mechanism for Proposition 1B, which would use $9.3 billion of rainy day funds for schools, beginning in 2011.
Vogel said the measure would level spending and also make future planning and budgeting more efficient.
“I just think it’s important that we recognize that the predicament we’re in is a very complex situation and it’s going to demand a complex solution,” Vogel said. “The initiatives on the ballot are just a small part of fixing what’s wrong here.”
CTA president David Sanchez said students would especially be at a disadvantage if the initiative does not pass.
“Close to 50,000 educators could lose their jobs if Prop 1A and 1B don’t get passed,” Sanchez said, adding that an additional 25,000 stand to lose their jobs on top of the 27,000 that were handed pink slips in March.