College forum examines May 19 ballot

A forum examining the propositions on the May 19 ballot brought students and other community members out to Moorpark College Tuesday morning.

David Maron of the League of Women Voters interviewed Herbert Gooch, director of the master's in public policy and administration program at California Lutheran University, about the propositions. Gooch went through Propositions 1A through 1F to shed light on the measures, which have been called confusing at the very least.

Many groups have conflicting opinions on the propositions. The Republicans as a whole are opposed to the measures, while Democrats won't take a stand on them, Gooch said. The California Chamber of Commerce is in favor.

Joel Fox of the Citizens to Save California is for the propositions, while the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is against them. And while the California Teachers Association (CTA) is for them, the California Federation of Teachers is opposed.

"Groups are all over the place," Gooch said. "There are almost no consistencies."

Proposition 1A breaks down into three parts, Gooch said. It changes the budget process to limit funding; it makes a much larger "rainy day" fund; and it calls for an increase in taxes.

Proposition 1B was added as a stipulation to 1A. If Prop 1A passes, $9.3 billion of the funds collected would be earmarked for education over the next two years.

"To get them to go for it, a deal was cut," Gooch said. "It's really there to keep CTA in favor of 1A. Several of the large unions are against it because they feel they were left out of the bill."

Proposition 1C would stop lottery profits from going to education. The state would take in $5 billion from the sale of lottery bonds.

"They want to raise a large amount of cash now at the expense of what could be earned later," Gooch said.

Although the state is expecting the $5 billion, it will pay interest totaling about $340 million a year.

There will also be changes in how the lottery is operated and advertised, which the state is hoping will lead to higher lottery sales and profits.

"They'll change the distribution of operating costs to allow for much bigger prizes," Gooch said. "The hope is that the lottery will grow in popularity and allow the lottery to make a lot more money. But there's no guarantee that the lottery modernization will really work.

"Then there's the question . . . do you really want the lottery or gambling to expand?"

Proposition 1D and 1E both propose taking monies previously earmarked for other programs and applying them toward the deficit. Prop. 1D will redirect about $1.4 billion from early childhood programs over the next five years. Prop. 1E takes $460 million from mental health programs, specifically for the impoverished and homeless.

"They want to 'temporarily redirect' that money, which is language for 'take,'" Gooch said. "It won't kill all the programs, but it will kill some."

Gooch said if all the propositions fail, there will "almost undoubtedly" be more cuts.

"Half of the budget goes to education," Gooch said. "So when they cut the budget, 50 percent of those cuts are to education. That's what you want to put in the back of your mind."

He said some voters are seeing the measures as necessary, despite their flaws.

"You don't want to look at how sausage is made," said Gooch, referring to the state's budget. "Just eat it.

"It's a mess," he added. "Even if it passes, it's still going to be a mess, just not as big of one."

Another forum will be held at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza board room Mon., May 4 from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

The forums were sponsored by nonpartisan organizations, including the League of Women Voters, the Ventura County Civic Alliance and Ventura County Taxpayers Association.