Posted on 04/12/2009 2:04:22 PM PDT by calcowgirl
The state's largest teachers union, which has been one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's most visible foes over the years, is the largest single financial backer of the Republican governor's budget-reform package on the May 19 special election ballot.
Newly released campaign finance reports for the election show that backers of the six budget-related measures are raking in far more cash than the opposition, and the gap is widening.
"We've got a lot of work ahead to educate voters about the importance of six complicated ballot measures, but we're confident we'll have the resources to do that job," said Julie Soderlund, a spokeswoman for Budget Reform Now, which is backing all six ballot measures.
Much of the money is coming from the California Teachers Association. The group has put more than $5.3 million into the campaign, including a $2.2 million contribution Friday to the effort to pass Prop. 1B, which would guarantee $9.3 billion in new state funding to replace recent cuts to the education budget.
...More than $4.9 million has been raised for Prop. 1B, which has no organized opposition.
... The only direct contribution to Prop. 1C, which would allow California to modernize the state lottery and borrow $5 billion against future revenues to close next year's anticipated budget gap, is $250,000 from the GTech Corp., the Rhode Island company with the contract to provide the state with all the needed games and equipment for the lottery.
The only measures facing any official opposition are Props. 1D and 1E, which take money from a pair of voter-approved taxes and temporarily move the cash into the general fund.
Opponents of the measures, who combined forces this week, have raised a total of $175,000 for their campaign.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Where do I sign the initiative position.
This is all anyone needs to know about whether these measures will restore fiscal sanity.
It's official: Arnold is PW.
Where do we get the money to hire people?
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