The Coming Prop 1A Train Wreck

The new California Field Poll portends a rough ride for the slew of Schwarzenegger ballot initiatives on May 19th: "Field Poll: California voters oppose five of six May 19 ballot measures."

This passage from the Sacramento Bee report summarizes things perfectly:

If there is a message in the latest poll on May 19 special election measures 1A through 1F, it may be that voters want their political leaders to solve California's fiscal crisis and stop passing the buck through ballot measures.

My impression is that this slate of initiatives is both cowardly and confusing.

The second measure, Proposition 1B, can't pass unless Proposition 1A is approved. Prop 1A raises taxes but claims to mandate a cap on future spending. Prop 1B will increase spending to California's schools. This situation has the teachers' unions working at cross-purposes, and some are literally tied in knots. The California Teachers Association (my union) supports the entire slate of initiatives. The California Federation of Teachers opposes Prop 1A but supports 1B, which makes no logical sense.

And if you check the "Vote No on 1A" website you'll find the strangest of strange-bedfellows coalition opposing 1A:

ACORN California
AFSCME
The Arc of California
California Alliance of Retired Americans
California Church Impact
California Faculty Association
California Federation of Teachers
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Nurses Association
California Pan Ethnic Health Center
California Partnership
California Primary Care Association
California School Boards Association
California Women’s Agenda
Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County
Congress of California Seniors
Consumer Federation of California
Having Our Say Coalition
Health Access California
League of Women Voters of California
League of Young Voters
Older Women’s League
Peace Inc.
Progressive Democratic Club of Los Angeles
SEIU CA State Council
Senior Action Network
SIREN
Union of Health Care Professionals/United Nurses Associations of California

As is often the case in California politics, what happens here has national ramifications. For more on that, see Hugh Hewitt, "Very Good News For the GOP, and Why President Obama Had Better Worry About Not Becoming Another Arnold."