'YES' ON PROPOSITION 1A
This measure was the linchpin for February's budget deal, and its passage is essential for California to get through the current crisis and avoid future ones.
If passed, Proposition 1A would do three main things:
• It would extend by one or two years the taxes that lawmakers approved in February on retail sales, vehicles and income. This would generate an estimated $16 billion between 2011 and 2013, helping to bridge future deficits and preventing deeper cuts to schools and social services.
• It would give the governor new authority to make midyear spending cuts during periods when state tax revenue unexpectedly dips.
• Lastly, it would establish a long-needed reform that would prevent lawmakers from spending surplus tax revenue during good times, so it could be saved for lean years.
This last provision is the strongest reason to support Proposition 1A. During a recession, no one wants to raise taxes. But given that lawmakers have already cut tens of billions of dollars from state programs, a temporary rise in taxes must be part of the overall solution.
Yet if Californians are to bear the sacrifice of a temporary tax hike, they had better get a prize in return. The spending limitation measure is that prize.
The chart above shows how it would work.
Under Proposition 1A, state spending could grow no more each year than the average of revenue growth in the 10 previous years. If tax revenue exceeded that amount, the state would place the surplus in a fund that could be spent only in years where revenues fell below a set level.
Proposition 1A is not as draconian as a rigid spending cap, such as the one that Colorado voters approved and then later suspended in 2005. Nonetheless, it would slow down the growth of spending and bring it more in line with the growth of inflation and population.
Had it been in place since 1998, California would only have experienced minor deficits, not the multibillion-dollar budget gaps that have been so tumultuous the last decade. It's time to shut down the roller coaster. Vote "Yes" on Prop. 1A, and tell your neighbors to support it.
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