For Immediate Release:
May 19th, 2009 |
Contact:
Katelyn Gimbel
Shirley & Banister Public Affairs
(703) 739-5920
kgimbel@sbpublicaffairs.com |
California Ballot Propositions Face Strong Opposition
Washington, D.C.— Opposition is growing to several statewide ballot measures that will be considered by California voters during a Special Election today, Tuesday, May 19. The six controversial ballot measures, Propositions 1A-1F, were devised when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and leaders of the legislative assembly brokered a deal to close California’s $42 billion budget gap.
With voters set to determine California’s fiscal fate, resistance to the measures is intensifying. Critics charge that the propositions enact massive tax increases, with only modest efforts to control spending.
Prop 1A increases taxes by $16 billion by raising California’s income tax, state sales tax, and vehicle license fee. Prop 1B, which has been promoted by public sector unions and their lobbyists, would transfer $9.3 billion more to what critics consider mismanaged schools and special interests at a time when the state faces fiscal insolvency. Prop 1C would authorize the California Lottery to borrow $5 billion by selling notes that would be repaid with future lottery revenue. Prop 1D would transfer control of $1.6 billion away from local health and education programs for children and give it to politicians and bureaucrats in California.
Citizens for the Republic, a national conservative advocacy organization originally founded by Ronald Reagan in 1977, is urging the defeat of Propositions 1A-1D—the most significant ballot measures under consideration Tuesday.
"The California budget crisis is the result of years of fiscal recklessness by politicians who failed, time and time again, to make difficult decisions on behalf of their constituents," said Stephen Manfredi, Executive Director of Citizens for the Republic.
"These ballot measures are just a cowardly attempt by Sacramento’s elite to abrogate their responsibilities and outsource the problems they created to the voters," said Mr. Manfredi. "These ballot measures will raise taxes by $16 billion, create no jobs, and do almost nothing to reduce the $42 billion budget deficit. Californians and Americans are tired of this fiscal recklessness."
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For more information or to arrange an interview with Stephen Manfredi, contact Katelyn Gimbel at (703) 739-5920 or
kgimbel@sbpublicaffairs.com.