[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Sara S. Nichols

Well, they're here! The long-awaited Bill Magavern ballot recommendations. With so many people absentee voting, we get requests for these LONG before the election. Hold your horses, people!!! Unless you are leaving for Europe or a tour of duty, what is the friggin' hurry on voting? I still walk to the neighborhood precinct on voting day, but if I voted two or three or four weeks out I would often regret it. New info really crystalizes in the final weeks of a campaign.

So without further ado:

THE BILL MAGAVERN BALLOT RECOMMENDATIONS, FEBRUARY 2008
PROPOSITIONS

91 – NO
Even its authors have disowned this one. Its effect would be to expand the circumstances under which all of the sales tax on gasoline – not the gas tax, but the sales tax – could be spent only on transportation, which would bind the hands of the governor and legislature during times of fiscal crisis.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Peter L. Stahl
Pete Rates the Propositions

Every year, Prop 98 guarantees schools and community colleges 40% of the General Fund—about $45 billion. And every year, the Legislature engages in a tug-of-war over how to divide that funding between K-12 schools and community colleges. In recent years the solution has been a consistent 90/10, and this will probably continue for the foreseeable future. However, the Legislature holds the power to alter the proportion should the need arise.

Community college advocates aren’t satisfied with this. They claim they were promised not ten, but eleven percent of the Prop 98 funding guarantee back in 1988, and that the state is now billions of dollars “in arrears” in funding the colleges. In order to correct this, they have given us Prop 92, which will decouple the funding guarantee for community colleges and K-12 schools and restore community college funding to what it “should” be.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Independent voters in California may lean strongly towards the Democratic party, accordingto the Los Angeles Times. A not insignificant factor is the GOP'sdecision last year to shut out independents from their primary. "TheRepublicans have been caught with their pants down," said DemocraticParty campaign adviser Bob Mulholland.

The debate over Proposition 92 ,which would cap student fees and guarantee funding for communitycolleges, is coming to a boil. "We're confident we're going to win Feb.5," said Scott Lay, head of the Community Colleges League of California.

Many Californian lawmakers still drive gas-guzzling cars, according to the Oakland Tribune. Not surprisingly, Republicans have the more expensive (and fuel inefficient) vehicles.

There's more...

Image courtesy of A1Limobus.com

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

CMR will have more on this later, but our state's long collective nightmare is nearing an end. Once Arnold slashes an additional $700 million, clinics, community colleges, adult care centers, and small business vendors will finally be reimbursed by a state held hostage by 52 days of Senate Republican obstructionist tactics that resulted in only minimal budget adjustments. I'm sure the fine wine and cigars industries are disappointed.