'NO' ON PROPOSITION 1B
At first glance, Proposition 1B seems attractive because it promises more money for schools in future years. But voters should give this proposition a hard look. It makes spending commitments that could be a burden on the state as soon as 2011 while doing nothing to end the volatility of education expenditures.
Here are the politics: To pass a budget deal, the governor and lawmakers needed to reduce school spending along with that of other state programs. To make a tax increase palatable to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a few other Republicans, Democrats reluctantly agreed to place a spending-limitation measure, Proposition 1A, on the ballot.
The trouble was, both of these actions – reduced school spending and a future spending limitation – drew the wrath of the California Teachers Association, one of the Capitol's power players. So to prevent the CTA from either upending the budget deal or opposing Proposition 1A, the governor and legislative leaders cooked up a sweetener – Proposition 1B.
In essence, this measure would settle a long-standing legal dispute over how much the state owes public education under Proposition 98, a convoluted school-spending measure voters passed in 1988. Proposition 1B pegs the owed amount at $9.3 billion and directs annual installments on this amount to begin in 2011. That would generate payments that, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office, would be billions of dollars higher than current law allows.
We support public education, but that support has to be weighed against the harm caused by ballot-box budgeting. Measures such as Proposition 98 have compounded California's fiscal woes while doing little to assure stable funding for schools. Proposition 1B is another chapter in this regrettable history, and within just two years it could create spending obligations the state couldn't afford.
If voters were to reject this measure, the CTA would likely go to the courts to achieve what it couldn't through the ballot box. Let it rip. While politicians may need to cut deals to get budgets passed, voters don't need to rubber-stamp those deals. This one is a bad one for California and voters should say "No" to it.
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