Meg Whitman has been under some pressure to take a position one way or the other on Prop 23. It would be nice to know what her take on one of the most major pieces of (anti-)environmental legislation in the nation is. Yet she has persistently and consistently denied all efforts to get her to say yay or nay.
But never you mind, she is very supportive of Prop 22:
The Republican gubernatorial nominee came out in support of Proposition 22, which would forbid the state from raiding county and city coffers at times of fiscal crises.
At an event in Culver City, a laid-off Long Beach teacher asked Whitman about her thoughts on decentralizing education spending. The state has cut billions in education spending in recent years, leading to widespread teacher layoffs, program cuts and the shortening of the school year in many cities.
“There is a proposition on the ballot in November that actually makes it illegal for the state to take money from cities and counties to balance the budget,” said Whitman, who is known for being disciplined in sticking to her talking points during campaign events and discussions with the press. “I think it’s the right thing to do. I’ll be supporting that initiative.” (LA Times)
Now, of course, this wasn’t really the question asked. Prop 22 doesn’t really change the general structure of education funding. Now, it does change the way the state can grab money that was destined to be allocated at the local level. However, education spending, which is heavily determined by Prop 98 formulas, will most assuredly not be given a boost by Prop 22.
It should also be noted that Prop 22 also has a nice little plug in there for redevelopment agencies, which are kind o f the scorn of the right-wing. They have some eminent domain powers, and folks like Chuck DeVore are not very big fans of Prop 22 for precisely this reason. It will be great to see how those right-wingers take the news of Prop 22.
And then there is the fact that Whitman has still not taken a position on Prop 23 yet. We’re still waiting on that…
Prop 22 was the one that I was undecided about. Queen Meg’s support of it tells me that I should vote NO on 22. I was already leaning that way but now I am sure.
Since H.L. “Bill” Richardson is no longer on the scene there is no one whose endorsement of a ballot measure makes me automatically vote the other way (although Joel Fox and the HJTA come very close.) Richardson was a rightwing state senator and head of the Gun Owners of California group who used to write lots of ballot arguments for and against propositions back in the ’70s and ’80s.