February 2008 Election Proposition Overview

This Tuesday millions of Californians will go to the polls to vote for who they believe will best represent their political party in the 2008 Presidential General Election. Due to the long campaign season of presidential elections and intense media scrutiny given to the candidates, most Californians have a good indication of who each of the major Presidential candidates are and what they stand for. However, many Californians are still unaware they will also be voting on seven propositions affecting California. Below is a summary of what each proposition seeks to accomplish:

• Proposition 91: This initiative would eliminate the Legislature's ability to spend gas tax money on non-transportation programs, and would allow the Legislature to borrow gas tax money only within a budget year. Loans would have to be repaid within 30 days of the adoption of the next fiscal year's budget. Currently, the state allows the borrowing of transportation funds for up to 3 years under certain situations.

• Proposition 92: This initiative seeks to do a few things. First, this initiative establishes a separate appropriation amount for community colleges. Currently, community colleges are funded through Proposition 98 as part of the K-14 system. This proposition would create separate base levels of funding for K-12 education and community colleges. It is expected that this measure will lock-in a spending increase of at least $300 million a year for community college. Additionally, this initiative sets a limit on the fees that community college students would pay at $15-a unit, which could mean a loss of student fee revenues to community colleges of potentially $70 million annually. Finally, this initiative states within the California Constitution that California’s community colleges are independently governed.

• Proposition 93: This initiative would reduce the total amount of time a legislator could serve from a potential 14 years to no more than 12. However, some current legislators may benefit with a term limit extension of up to six years depending upon which house they are currently serving and whether they have past service in another house of the legislature. Currently, an individual elected to the State Assembly may serve a potential 6 years, while an individual elected to the State Senate may serve up to 8 years, for a combined total of 14 years. Under Proposition 93, future elected individuals may serve no more than 12 years in the Senate, the Assembly, or both, in any combination of terms.

• Propositions 94-97: These propositions are individual referendums on new gaming compacts with four Southern California Indian tribes that were approved by the Legislature last year and signed by the governor. A "Yes" vote would approve the agreements, while a "No" vote would overturn them and hold the tribes to their existing 1999 compacts. The new agreements would expand gaming by adding potentially 17,000 new machines compared to the 8,000 these tribes already operate. The agreements guarantee more than $120 million in new revenues will flow into the state's general fund each year and additional revenue will depend on how many new slot machines are increased and how much profit each machine brings to the tribe. If these measures fail, the state will continue to receive the same amount of revenue currently received as a result of the 1999 compacts.