Taxable Talk

Proposition 82, the mandatory preschool/tax increase/help Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Denver initiative, fell to defeat yesterday. With almost every precinct reporting, 39.1% favored the proposition, but 60.9% opposed it. Californians even defeated a library bond initiative, 53.1% to 46.9%. That’s unusual because most bond measures are easily passed in the Golden State.

But we’re not through dealing with tax increases. In the Democratic primary, Phil “I want to increase your taxes” Angelides defeated Steve Westly and will oppose Governor Schwarzenegger in the November general election.

Proposition 82, the pre-school for all, tax the wealthy, help Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Denver initiative, now trails, according to a Field Poll just released. For those, like me, who are against the initiative, vigilance is still required. Democrats are shown to be in favor of the initiative while Republicans are against it. However, there are no contested raced on the Republican primary ballot on Tuesday while there is a contentious Democratic races for Governor.

As always, you should exercise your right to vote this Tuesday no matter where you stand on this initiative. If you don’t know where your polling place is, you can find your polling place here.

Proposition 82, the free preschool, tax increase, Help Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Denver Initiative, may now be trailing in polls. While no new polls have been released publicly, Bill Bradley of LA Weekly notes in a recent column that support has fallen below 50%. If you’re a Californian and want to make sure that we don’t have a new bureaucracy to deal with (along with higher taxes and fewer businesses to pay those taxes), make sure you express your opinion on election day next Tuesday.

By the way, both the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times have come out in editorials against Proposition 82. This may be the first time in some time that the state’s most conservative paper (the Register) and the state’s most liberal paper (the Times) have agreed on a controversial measure.

Proposition 82, the Mandatory Preschool/Tax Increase/Help Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Denver Initiative, still leads in the polls. However, the last statewide poll was released over a month ago.

Unfortunately for all Californians, the primary election on June 6th is dominated by the Democratic primary for Governor. With no major draw for Republicans, it’s very likely that this initiative, which would likely continue California’s downward march among states to do business, will pass.

Interestingly enough Dan Weintraub (of the Sacramento Bee) noted that a measure buried in the Governator’s budget would provide preschool to the most needy at a fraction of the cost of Proposition 82. Now, excuse my sarcasm, but do Democrats support a lean program, targeted to those who need it, or a new bureaucracy, with a program to match?

Dan Weintraub’s Column (registration required)
Text of Proposition 82

Rob Reiner resigned as head of the First-5 Commission on Wednesday, as more pressure mounts to do a thorough investigation. Indeed, as the Chronicle story notes, both Democrats and Republicans believe something’s fishy with how the Commission spent money raised through the cigarette tax.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and other law enforcement officers came out in support of Proposition 82, the help Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Denver Initiative (aka the tax the wealthy for mandatory pre-school initiative). Support for Proposition 82 has fallen to 52 percent, which is about 30 percent higher than it should be if voters realized the economic consequences. There’s still no word if the Nevada Development Authority will sponsor advertisements supporting Proposition 82.

Proposition 82, the pre-school/tax increase/help Las Vegas, Phoenix and Denver Initiative, continues to have support at the polls here in the Golden State. Rob Reiner, who wrote the initiative, continues to find himself in a hole.

Yesterday Reiner held a news conference in Sacramento. Reiner is chair of the “First 5” Commission, funded by a tobacco tax. The First 5 Commission spent $23 Million on a series of commercials that ran in December and January promoting pre-school. I doubt it’s a coincidence that Reiner happens to have written an initiative that will be voted on in June that creates a bureaucracy for pre-school.

Meanwhile, every Republican State Senator has called on the Governator to replace Reiner on the First 5 Commission. Both Republicans and Democrats have forced the State Auditor to audit the First 5 Commission. The initiative is now facing opposition from not only groups such as the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, but Democrats. Republican political commentators such as Hugh Hewitt have been taking the Governator, Reiner and the initiative to task.

Still, the $23 Million has had an impact. With no major Republican issues on the June ballot (as of now), and a Democratic primary for Governor, it will be very interesting to see if Proposition 82 passes. If the election were held today, it would (according to polling data). That shows you the sad state of California’s electorate.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, State Senator Don Perata (D-Oakland) has dropped his support of Rob Reiner’s Proposition 82, the mandatory preschool/increase income tax/Help Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado Initiative, because it was too expensive. Perata noted that the estimated cost per child (under Proposition 82) would be over $8,000 (for a half-day); this is larger than the per-student cost for a full day of school at some elementary schools in California.

Perata was also troubled by the year-end advertising campaign that First Five mounted, noting “That was over the line. A blatant effort to promote the initiative.” There have been calls in the state legislature for audits of First Five.

News Story: San Francisco Chronicle

Proposition 82 on the June 6th California Primary Election Ballot is titled, “Preschool Education. Tax On Incomes Over $400,000 for Individuals; $800,000 for Couples….” A better name for this misguided statute is the “Preschool Education Bureaucracy. Driving Jobs from California Act.” Because that’s what this initiative would do.

As noted yesterday, California already ranks 40th among the states in business climate. This initiative, if passed, would increase taxes for the wealthy. It sounds great—use the money for mandatory preschool, help our kids, it only impacts the rich, etc.—but if it passes the impact would be felt only slightly among the wealthy. The true impact would be on the lower and middle class.

If you’re a business owner, and you have a choice of hiring one more person in California (which will have an impact on growing your business, increasing your revenues, etc.) or hiring that employee in another state, what would you choose if the tax rate in California is quite high? I’m sure the Nevada Development Authority, Phoenix Development Authority, and the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation are rooting for passage.

Not only is this initiative bad from a tax standpoint, it’s bad for our children. Does anyone honestly believe that California needs another bureaucracy to run our childrens’ lives? Don’t we, the parents, do a better job of choosing what’s right for our children than the state? For example, parents who want to “home school” preschool would be prohibited from doing so under Proposition 82.

I hadn’t planned on writing about this initiative in late February when the primary ballot won’t be until June 6th. However, two items caused me to pen this entry. First, the Wall Street Journal wrote an editorial today on this measure. Second, the measure’s leading proponent, Rob Reiner, has been in the news. As Hugh Hewitt noted Reiner has taken a leave of absence from First Five, the state agency spending money from a cigarette tax. Maybe you caught the commercials that ran over the holidays, “Preschool is good for our kids.” Hmmm, that’s not a leading message with a ballot initiative upcoming….