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Following passage of the long-delayed state budget in February, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders agreed to place proposals for voter approval onto a special statewide election scheduled for May 19. Now, with just three weeks to Election Day, a new Field Poll finds pluralities of likely voters lining up on the No side on five of six of the ballot measures.

Judging by the results of this week's Field polls, California voters: (a) Are mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore. (b) Don't give a rat's patootie about the May 19 special election. (c) Are highly skeptical that the half-dozen propositions on the aforementioned election's ballot are going to do much to buoy the state's sinking finances. The correct answer, based on interviews with veteran observers of the California political scene, as well as voters themselves, is (d) all of the above. "They are extremely leery of budget proposals coming out of Sacramento," said Jack Pitney, a professor...

Field Poll finds five of six California ballot measures failing April 29, 2009 California voters appear to be leaning toward "no" on five of six statewide propositions on the May 19 ballot, including measures that would boost the state's sagging budget and provide more funding for schools and colleges, according to a new Field Poll. The poll results come as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been campaigning hard in favor of Proposition 1A, which he said is crucial to helping fix the state's budget mess. Other Republicans oppose the measure, saying it is likely to bring new taxes. According to the...

A sturdy axiom of ballot- measure politics is that voters who are confused or uncertain about a proposition's effects will vote against it. That's why a measure's opposition forces often use advertising and other political tools not to make a conclusive case, but to plant doubt and/or confusion. Conversely, of course, proponents try to hammer home a simple, positive message. The six budget-related measures on the May 19 special election ballot are especially complex, as if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators purposely set out to make them as confusing as possible, with interrelated wordage, triggers and poison pills. And that...

In an angry rebuff to Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic Party leaders, voters are turning thumbs down on a package of budget reform measures on the May 19 special election ballot, a new Field Poll shows. Support for five of the six measures, all of which require a majority vote, is no greater than 40 percent and each is running between nine and 27 percentage points behind the opposition. Only Proposition 1F, which would bar pay raises for government leaders in budget deficit years, looks like a winner, leading 71 percent to 24 percent. More than 70 percent of...

As early voting begins on six state of California ballot propositions, opposition is growing to 5 of the 6 measures, according to this latest SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for KABC-TV Los Angeles, KPIX-TV San Francisco, KGTV-TV San Diego, and KFSN-TV Fresno. Because turnout in a special election is typically low, and because voters do not focus until the last minute, many 'likely voters' interviewed by SurveyUSA say they are not yet certain how they will vote on the measures. Any outcome remains possible. On Proposition 1A, The Rainy Day Budget Stabilization and Accountability Fund, 42% of voters today are certain...

This just in from friends on the scene... California Republican Party (CRP) opposes Prop 1A-1F Mike Villines & Tom Campbell had spoken in favor of 1A and Steve Poizner against.

You and every other Californian are being targeted by Sacramento politicians to pay more, much more, in taxes. On top of the just approved highest state tax increase in U.S. history, the politicians want you and your family to pay an additional $1,000 or more per year. To get your money, the politicians have placed Prop. 1A on the May 19 Special Election ballot. This giant tax increase is disguised as a "Spending Cap" and "Budget Reform." Prop. 1A is a TAX EXTENSION of the new taxes just approved — taxes that have already made us the highest taxed state...

Democratic State Attorney General Jerry Brown, standing Tuesday at the side of Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, declared his support for the Republican governor's budget reform measures Props. 1A-1F on the May 19 special election ballot. The two state officials were surrounded by fire and police chiefs from Alameda County at an Alameda fire station for the announcement by the Attorney General and former two-term governor -- who is strongly considered likely to run for a third gubernatorial term in the 2010 election. The move comes just days after Brown expressed what was described in a Calbuzz interview as "tepid" support for...

NO on Prop 1-A: THE "RAINY DAY" BUDGET STABILIZATION FUNDThis "budget deal" is a bailout for big spenders who will extract another $16 billion dollars in taxes and continue to increase state spending. It is not a "rainy day" fund at all. The California Legislature, that has over taxed and spent, will just have another slush fund to use at their will. It does nothing to restrain bloated deficits nor restrain tax and spend legislators. NO on Proposition 1-B: EDUCATION FUNDING. PAYMENT PLANMandates more deficit spending for an education system; that needs massive reform, not another $9.3 billion dollars in...

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,...

The California Teachers Association has deposited another $2.2 million into the campaign to pass Propositions 1A and 1B, bringing the group's total spending to nearly $5 million.

Arguing that the short-term pain of increased taxes is worth the long-term gain of permanent budget reform, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger picked up some major Los Angeles endorsements for a raft of ballot propositions designed to rescue state finances. "One of the most important things on issues is to get local political leaders, law enforcement leaders and business leaders to support us," Schwarzenegger said at a news conference staged at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Sheriff Lee Baca and Chamber President Gary Toebben announced their support for the six measures on the May 19 special election...

WOODLAND HILLS - As he launched a radio ad campaign Tuesday for his budget measures on the May 19 ballot, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said failure to approve the package would worsen the state's already-dire fiscal crisis. "If they don't pass, we will be facing a $50 billion problem," Schwarzenegger said at a meeting with Daily News editors and reporters. "It will mean massive cuts in education, hospitals, prisons. These are things people don't want to see cut." Schwarzenegger's campaign committee, Budget Reform Now, began its advertising campaign Tuesday for the six ballot measures - Propositions 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E...

Sacramento -- California's recently christened budget is expected to be billions of dollars in the red before the new fiscal year begins in July, although it's a manageable gap, many state officials say. But if voters reject a package of ballot measures in the May 19 special election, then the projected shortfall could push the state's deficit to more than $15 billion, creating a new fiscal crisis. That, state lawmakers fear, would prompt the same kind of partisan posturing - over tax increases and program cuts - that led to last summer's record-setting impasse. "If the voters reject (the measures),...

The California Teachers Association has donated another $1 million to pass the budget package on the May 19 special election.

Among the special election propositions that Californians will consider as part of the 2009-10 budget plan is a measure that puts at odds the needs and interests of two groups responsible for providing much of the preschool education offered in San Joaquin County. Voters in 1998 approved the 50-cent-per-pack tobacco tax that sends millions of dollars to First 5 commissions throughout the state to pay for health and education programs focused on children 5 and younger. Proposition 1D, which will appear on the May 19 ballot, seeks to help fill California's gaping budget hole by sending much of that tobacco-tax...

A. Jerrold "Jerry" Perenchio, former chair of the largest Spanish-language media company in the United States, has donated $1.5 million to back two May special election measures. Perenchio's donated the money to the Budget Reform Now committee, which calls for "yes" votes on Propositions 1A and 1C. Proposition 1A would impose state spending restrictions, establish a "rainy day" fund for budget shortages and extend tax increases for two years. Proposition 1C allows the state to borrow $5 billion against future profits of a revamped state lottery. It is the second time that Perenchio, former head of Univision Communications Inc., has...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can't be happy that the ballot measures he and leading Democrats are pushing for the May 19 special election took a gut punch in this morning's Los AngelesTimes from former LA Mayor Richard Riordan. Titled "California's May ballot scam," Riordan's op-ed says the Republican governor and legislative backers of the measures could challenge Bernie Madoff for "swindler of the year." . . . But Riordan says both parties are blindly supporting the approach. ..." And to my conservative friends: Will you be intimidated into voting for something you know is wrong? You should be against increases in...

Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, the Republicans' new state Senate leader, predicted Thursday that five out of six ballot measures linked to the budget deal will fail at the polls May 19.Speaking to a Sacramento Press Club luncheon, Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, also said majority Democrats would have gotten the blame if the recent budget deal had collapsed and driven the state into insolvency.Hollingsworth took over the Senate GOP caucus in the middle of the night after his colleagues deposed Sen. Dave Cogdill of Modesto. Cogdill had cut the budget deal that included tax increases with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Democrats and Assembly Republican Leader...