SACRAMENTO, May 19, 2009 - California voters opposed Prop. 1D & 1E in Tuesday's Special Election. Opponents of the measures called the trends unmistakable with one-third of the vote counted at a little after 10 p.m.
"Voters saw through these two propositions, despite efforts to dress them up as pain-free or even beneficial,"said Dave Fratello, campaign manager for No on Prop. 1D & 1E. "Both 1D and 1E sought to cut programsthat the voters themselves demanded. Once they realized that, voters forcefully rejected them."
"Clearly," Fratello added, "voters do not want to try to balance the budget on the backs of children and those with mental illness."
If passed, Prop. 1D would have cut $268 million a year for the next five years from voter-approved children's programs (Prop. 10 of 1998); and Proposition 1E would have raided $460 million from voter-approved mental health programs (Prop. 63 of 2004).
Defeat of 1E Keeps the Promise of Prop. 63
"We have had enough broken promises in the area of mental health," said Rusty Selix, co-author of Prop. 63, the Nov. 2004 mental health funding measure targeted by Prop. 1E. "We're thankful that the voters have kept the promise of Prop. 63 and wish to see it continue."
"We think voters recognized the severe, negative impact that Prop. 1E would have had on successful mental health programs," Selix said. "To date, we've helped more than 200,000 men, women and children thanks to Prop. 63. To take nearly a half billion dollars from these programs would have ended up costing California in hospitalizations, homelessness and jail time. That would have been a costly mistake."
Defeat of 1D the Third Victory for Children's Services
"This feels like the third time we have won a big battle," said Sherry Novick, Executive Director of the First 5 Association in California. "It is strange that it should be so hard to get the state to invest in early childhood services, but the voters always seem to be with us. We are pleased that they have supported our efforts on behalf of children once again."
Proposition 10, which created First 5 programs across the state, was enacted in November 1998 despite fierce, well-funded opposition by tobacco companies. In March 2000, tobacco companies led a repeal effort known as Proposition 28, which was defeated. Prop. 1D marked the third major campaign, and supporters of children's services were again successful.
"Even though California faces a dire budget deficit," Novick said, "voters want to protect children's programs. This would have been a terrible time to cut back on child immunizations, infant health care, child abuse prevention and the wide range of services that First 5 now provides."
Joint Campaign More Potent Than Expected, Biggest Swing from Early Polls
After a merger in March, the joint No on Prop. 1D & 1E campaign raised nearly $900,000, with supporters of mental health care and children's services providing roughly equal shares of the support. Organized labor provided almost $200,000, led by $100,000 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which also made in-kind donations of services to the campaign, and $50,000 from the California Federation of Teachers.
The campaign used targeted mailings, radio advertising, volunteer phone banks and automated phone calls, in addition to working aggressively with the media, to deliver its message to the voters considered likeliest to turn out in the special election.
"The Legislature and the governor bet against these groups," said Fratello. "But we found our strength and we found our friends."
"This campaign had a passionate core that you didn't see with most of the other measures this time," said Fratello. "These measures were close in the early polls. In the end, we were able to communicate directly to the voters who most needed to hear from us, and that helped us bring these measures to resounding defeats."
For more information about Prop. 1D & 1E visit www.NoProp1D1E.com.
By submitting a comment you consent to our rules. Please use your real first and last name, not a nickname or alias. Thank you.
