CA: Schwarzenegger vows support for local governments, ballot measure

Bakersfield Californian ^ | 9/15/04 | Beth Fouhy - AP

[NormsRevenge]

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose own attempt to raid tax revenues from local governments helped lead to a lengthy budget stalemate last summer, campaigned Wednesday on behalf of a ballot measure to prevent the state from attempting such tax grabs in the future.

At a training center for Los Angeles firefighters, Schwarzenegger joined Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn, police chief William Bratton and other local officials urging support for Proposition 1A, one of 16 major initiatives on the Nov. 2 ballot. If passed, the measure would prohibit the state from dipping into local tax revenue except in case of a severe fiscal emergency, as well as prevent the state from imposing mandates on local governments without providing money to pay for them.

"You've made it very clear to me, you said, 'Arnold, we want you to stop the big spenders in Sacramento,'" Schwarzenegger said. "It was always the same old story - Sacramento spends, local government pays, and local services suffer."

Proposition 1A grew out of a deal struck by Schwarzenegger with city and county governments, who have long complained of seeing their funding diverted to pay for legislators' spending habits. The state has pulled some $40 billion from local coffers since 1992, much of which would have been directed toward police and fire protection.

Schwarzenegger, who vowed to protect local governments during last year's recall election, made his own attempt in January to grab $1.3 billion from cities and counties to plug the state's $17 billion budget hole. Local governments then qualified an initiative, Proposition 65, that would prohibit such raids in the future.

Later, in a series of closed-door meetings, Schwarzenegger persuaded local leaders to forfeit $2.6 billion over two years in exchange for his support for Proposition 1A, to prevent such raids in the future. Local government leaders also agreed to drop their support for Proposition 65, although it remains on the ballot. A dispute with legislators over elements of Proposition 1A, among other things, tied up the budget process for weeks.

If there were any lingering resentments over Schwarzenegger's attempted tax grab - or his decision last year to slash the vehicle license fee, which would have generated an additional $4 billion for local governments - none was evident at Wednesday's campaign event.

"Gov. Schwarzenegger made a campaign promise to end the practice in Sacramento of raiding local government to balance the state's budget," Hahn said. "The governor is proving he's a man of his word."

Bratton, who came to Los Angeles in 2002 after running police departments in New York and Boston, praised Schwarzenegger's leadership on the issue and said the "quaint California custom of the state reaching in, unannounced, and taking as much as they want from local government" mystified him.

"I've only been out here a couple years ... and as crazy as I thought it was back there in New York and Boston during financial crises, I've never seen anything like this place," Bratton said.

While Proposition 1A has no organized opposition, supporters fear that the blizzard of other initiatives, as well as Proposition 65, will confuse voters.

Speaking to reporters, Schwarzenegger refused to divulge his position on the state's highest-profile ballot measure - Proposition 71, which would authorize a $3 billion bond to pay for stem cell research - and another measure, opposed by both major political parties, to establish an open primary. So far, he has taken a position on nine of the 16 measures.

"It's very important to divide all this stuff up the right way - that' s why today we wanted to single out the one that is extremely important to local government, which is Proposition 1A," Schwarzenegger said.

[Fast1]

Ever see the List of Bullcrap Liberal money sucking free bee programs in California I was amazed that the state can even exist.
If they shut half of them down; there would be piles of money in Sacramento

[goldstategop]

Local Democrats are more tuned to voters' needs than the Leftist bunch up in Sacramento. This initiative will mean less money for all the social welfare initiatives they want to impose from up North. And an end to higher taxes too.

[Amerigomag]

Anyone who believes the double speak that exudes from the mouth of this Austrian liberal deserves the hose job he's been handing out in the past 8 months.

Schwarzenegger is at least a liberal and probably worse. I can understand that he sucked in liberals and moderates but have never appreciated his appeal to conservatives.