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Off-year elections are usually snoozes, but California's Nov. 8 vote has enough crossfire to be one of Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's old movies. The "governator" is fighting public employee unions in an escalating — and sometimes ugly — war over four propositions on the ballot. Well over $100 million has been spent so far, about $80 million by unions, to sway voters. The key initiative is Proposition 75. Fans and critics alike see it as a potentially devastating blow to the unions' power. If passed, it could cripple their ability to raise money for political activities, decisively shifting the balance...

MA!  He's FLIPPING  again...!!!  ...THIS time in California...!!!  

IN 1998, THIS PAGE OPPOSED Proposition 226, the so-called paycheck-protection measure that sought to bar labor unions from spending a member's dues for political activities in the absence of that member's consent. We considered that initiative a disingenuous "good government" move aimed at diminishing the voice of only one side on public policy debates, and we would oppose such a proposition again if it were on this year's ballot. But contrary to some of the arguments being mustered both for and against Proposition 75, this election's version of "paycheck protection" is significantly different than Proposition 226: It applies only to...

I keep reading that stories that support for the ballot propositions backed by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is very weak. Even the Washington Times claims two are failing ("in the polls"), as if that finding represented a concensus of polls (Oct. 17, "For Arnold stakes are high"). I had thought I had seen them doing well, so I looked it up on the internet. The most recent poll I could find was done by Survey USA, released October 2nd. Its results: Proposition 73: Physicials must notify a parent of a pregnant minor 48 hours before performing the abortion. Yes, 59%....

California Ballot Propositions November 8, 2005 Special Election General Recommendations New endorsements posted as they become available. Click on proposition number to see IGS Hot Topic on the initiative. Or see our ballot measure summary guide at the bottom of this page. LIBRARY Institute of Governmental StudiesUniversity of California109 Moses Hall #2370  Berkeley, CA 94720-2370  510-642-1472 (voice)  510-643-0866 (fax)   ORGANIZATION/NEWSPAPER  73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 Alameda Co. Taxpayers Association                 ACLU of Northern CA  n n n - n - - - Assn. CA Water Agencies    ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Entering a fight over union rights that could have national implications, Sen. John Kerry warned Thursday that a ballot initiative backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could tip the balance of democracy by muzzling the voice of working people. Proposition 75 would force public employee unions, such as those representing teachers, firefighters and prison guards, to seek written permission from members before using dues for political purposes. Kerry, speaking outside a downtown firehouse, said the initiative would condemn workers to "a completely unfair system." The proposal "represents part of an ongoing effort by the Republican Party to...

For Kevin Brown, "paycheck protection" this year would have amounted to something on the order of $231.71. That's how much money was taken from his paycheck, anyway, and spent on political activities by the public employee union that represents him in collective bargaining. Brown, webmaster for the state Department of Insurance, doesn't officially belong to his union and doesn't particularly care for its politics. But right now, the onus is on Brown, an "agency fee" payer rather than a full-blown member of Service Employees International Union Local 1000, to get his money back. He has only a limited amount of...

'Curtain up! Light the lights! You got nothing to hit but the heights!" Arnold Schwarzenegger might not sound like Ethel Merman, but he's belting out her song as the curtain rises on the November special election. He's gambling as Merman puts it in the 1960's Broadway hit "Gypsy," that his "lucky star is due." And soon we'll know whether "everything's coming up roses" for Arnold and the GOP. With a month to go until the Nov. 8 vote, the oddest thing about this election is that it is not really about the four initiatives he's endorsed, nor the four others...

A federal judge in San Jose refused Wednesday to restrain the California Teachers Association from bolstering its political campaign account by imposing an annual $60 surcharge on its members for the next three years. U.S. District Court Judge James Ware's decision in a case filed by the Virginia-based Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation probably will allow the teachers union to raise and spend upwards of $50 million to contest Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's special election initiatives slated for the Nov. 8 ballot, representatives of both sides in the lawsuit said. "This is fantastic," CTA chief counsel Beverly Tucker said. "We...

EUREKA -- Rob Arkley has apparently given more to help pass Proposition 75 than any other single individual in the state of California. According to the California secretary of state’s website, Arkley heads up a long list of big donors supporting Proposition 75 with a total of $302,000 given to groups supporting its passage. The contributions came in two different contributions, one for $250,001 in September and another for $52,000 made earlier in August. Arkley did not return a call for comment by deadline. But an employee for Security National, owned by Arkley, called the Times-Standard and said his boss...

NEW! POLL SHOWS OVERWHELMING SUPPORT FOR REFORM A recent public opinion poll of likely voters in California shows overwhelming support of Propositions 73, 74, 75, 76, 77. Proposition 75- Paycheck Protection- received the highest level of support at 60% in favor. Among Likely voters: PROP 73 59% Yes 39% No 2% Undecided PROP 74 55% Yes 44% No 2% Undecided Prop 75 60% Yes 37% No 3% Undecided Prop 76 58% Yes 36% No 6% Undecided Prop 77 59% Yes 36% No 5% Undecided Conducted by: Survey USA Sponsoring News Organizations: KABC-TV Los Angeles , KPIX-TV San Francisco 1,200 California...

In January, the governor issued a challenge to the Legislature's Democrats: change how you do business, or I will change it for you. The Democrats yawned. They were sure that Schwarzenegger would cave. The Democrats had been in charge before he got there, and they would be in charge long after he was gone. But a funny thing happened: Schwarzenegger didn't cave. How could that be, they asked, since he knows we are in charge. Schwarzenegger said: Tough: change is necessary. He said he would qualify initiatives, call a special election, and get the people to bring about change. The...

Opponents of Proposition 75, the initiative on the Nov. 8 ballot that would bar public employee unions from collecting and using dues for political purposes without the annual written consent of the employee, launched three 30-second television ads last week. Following is the text for one of the ads and an analysis by Bee Deputy Capitol Bureau Chief Dan Smith.*LISA DICKASON: "I knew I wanted to be a teacher when I was 5 years old. There's just something about teaching. It's imparting something to the kids; it's helping other people." *ANNOUNCER: When the governor diverted billions from schools, threatening our...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Actor-director Rob Reiner campaigned Thursday against Proposition 75, a ballot initiative pushed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that would require public employee unions to get permission to use members' dues for political purposes. Reiner, a Democrat and longtime political activist often mentioned as a potential challenger to Schwarzenegger, told an audience that Prop. 75, known as "paycheck protection" by its supporters, was designed purely to stifle political speech. "The things I care about - education, health care, energy, environment - I need, we all need, to have everybody's voice heard," Reiner told a small audience of teachers,...

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigned in Silicon Valley for several "year of reform" ballot initiatives Wednesday, comparing his quest for change in state government to the technological advances that the region's famed computer companies have brought to consumers. At a "town hall"-style campaign gathering at Sun Microsystems, Schwarzenegger urged the audience to support four ballot measures aimed at curbing the power of the Democrat-controlled Legislature and their allied public employee unions. He is pushing Proposition 74, which would extend, from two to five years, the time teachers must work to receive tenure; Proposition 75, which would...

Public employee labor unions say Proposition 75 would "cripple employees' ability to fight on a level playing field," by restricting the use of members' dues for political purposes. But even if the measure is approved, unions would have nearly unfettered ability to collect and spend members' dues for issue advocacy - a catch-all category in state law that can include voter "education" or television ads attacking a politician over a particular issue not related to an election. (snip) Supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and business interests among others, the measure would bar public employee unions from using dues collected from...

Proposition 75 proponents have begun airing their first advertisement leading up to the Nov. 8 special election, a one-minute radio spot featuring three public employee union members who oppose having their dues money used for political purposes.Here is the text of the ad and an analysis by Andy Furillo of The Bee's Capitol Bureau: • MALE ANNOUNCER: Teachers, firefighters and police officers support Proposition 75. • FEMALE ANNOUNCER: Because Prop. 75 is about union democracy. • FIRST WORKER: I'm a teacher, and I'm union. But I should have the right to give my permission before my dues money is used...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A small group of teachers and lawyers who are seeking class action status for a lawsuit against the California Teachers Association was drowned out by screams and chants Thursday as they tried to hold a news conference outside the union's office. The National Right to Work Foundation, which filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Jose on behalf of six named teachers and professors, claims the CTA is illegally collecting a $60 levy in each of the next three years to pay for electioneering. The union voted to raise dues by that amount in hopes...

SACRAMENTO - An anti-union group filed a federal lawsuit Thursday to block the powerful California Teachers Association from raising dues to fight four ballot measures pushed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The class-action suit -- prepared by the National Right to Work Legal Foundation on behalf of six instructors, including Franklin Lowenthal, a professor at Cal State East Bay -- alleges the $60-per-member increase is an involuntary loan and violates their free-speech rights. "We should not have to pay that," said Lowenthal, who contacted the nonprofit foundation after learning of the fee hike. The teachers association dismissed the challenge as a...

Bob Baker is a union president and a Los Angeles police officer who considers himself generally conservative. "Don't ever call a cop a liberal," said Baker, head of the Los Angeles Police Protective League. He even blanches at the word "union," saying it reminds him of corrupt Teamster bosses. Baker, who often works in concert with liberal labor leaders, prefers "recognized bargaining unit." So it goes with police unions, a hybrid of law-and-order conservatism and bread-and-butter liberalism. They may tilt Republican in party loyalty, but their labor representatives frequently turn to Democrats on matters such as pay and pensions. That...