LOS ANGELES – Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday urged students to rally support on college campuses for his Nov. 6 ballot initiative to raise taxes.

"My plea to you is, don't be complacent," the Democratic governor told about 200 students at a rally at UCLA. "You can avoid that tuition hike."

The event marked the start of what Brown said will be a "full-on campaign" for Proposition 30, his initiative to raise the state sales tax and income taxes on California's highest earners. The measure would avert about $5.4 billion in cuts to schools and community colleges this budget year, but it would also have a direct impact on college students: If the measure fails, University of California officials have said they will raise tuition by about 20 percent.

"A lot is riding on this election," Brown said.

Brown's campus push came as another $11 million was sent to a committee that is opposing his measure and supporting a separate initiative to reduce organized labor's political clout.

The money came from an opaque Arizona-based group – Americans for Responsible Leadership – that has opposed Arizona initiatives for a sales tax extension and a top-two primary.

A spokeswoman for the California-based committee opposing Brown and supporting the anti- labor measure, Proposition 32, said she didn't know where Americans for Responsible Leadership got its money.

"They are an organization that has seen over the last several weeks that we've been leading the fight – No on 30, Yes on 32 – and apparently they just decided to contribute," said Beth Miller, spokeswoman for the Small Business Action Committee PAC.

The development gives anti-tax foes significant resources to mount an opposition during the campaign's final three weeks.

Brown's appearance also came a day after Molly Munger, the proponent of a rival tax measure, Proposition 38, announced she was phasing out her ad critical of Brown's initiative.

"I think that's good, because I think everybody should argue their own case," Brown said after the rally.

"I'm just glad that she's following a more positive line."

Brown has said he will keep an aggressive campaign schedule in the final three weeks before Election Day, following a relatively quiet summer.

"The governor getting out is helpful," said Joshua Pechthalt, president of the California Federation of Teachers, which merged its own tax campaign with Brown's earlier this year. "In hindsight, probably having him traveling the state, shaking hands, holding town hall meetings, is an aspect of the campaign that we should have exploited more."

Among the students at the rally was Saundra Albers, a 19-year-old sophomore and member of the campus Democratic club. She said students are actively campaigning for Brown's measure.

"We're getting the word out," she said.

Brown was heckled at the rally by students who called for a tax on millionaires and who objected, among other things, to his recent veto of legislation that would have provided overtime and other benefits to domestic workers. Mathew Sandoval, a 33-year-old graduate student, called Brown a "traitor" and yelled when Brown was speaking to reporters after the rally, "Did you come to talk to students or to cameras, Brown?"

Brown said at the rally that it was appropriate to hear from both dissenters and supporters, calling for each group to shout.

"The excitement on the campus, not just from this rally, but from all over, is incredible," Brown said later. "The institution of the schools and the universities are more engaged in this campaign than any I've ever seen."

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