More local overrides
To Raise Taxes, Some Pin Hopes on State Ballot Box
Stymied by lawmakers, activists backing more funding for health and schools push initiatives.
By Evan Halper
Times Staff Writer
March 29, 2004
SACRAMENTO — Frustrated by state lawmakers who refuse to consider new taxes, advocates for spending more money on education and healthcare are taking a cue from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by appealing directly to California voters.
Dismissing concerns that it might be bad policy to budget at the ballot box, activists are promoting at least three proposed tax increases that appear headed for the electorate:
• A tax on millionaires to pay for expanded mental health services.
• A hike in corporate property taxes to hire more teachers, pay them more and establish universal free preschool.
• A surcharge on telephone bills to support emergency room services.
"Voters are smart enough to do the math and recognize if an extra dollar or two on their phone bills can keep emergency rooms open, it's probably a good value," said Kelly Hayes-Raitt, spokeswoman for the Coalition to Preserve Emergency Care.
But it's not just people outside state government who are behind this approach. Some key Democrats in the Assembly and the Senate — including members of budget committees — support the measures.
"It's not the perfect way to do this," said Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), a leader of the mental health campaign. "But for all the talk there has been in the Legislature over the last few years about trying to raise taxes, it hasn't exactly happened."
Education boosters say it's a matter of priorities. With every budget item under scrutiny this year, schools need a boost, said supporters of the corporate property tax increase.
