Californians: Can you help me decide which way to vote on Prop 1A?

It depends on what your definition of “pork” is. I’m not from CA, but I notice this going on all the time in state legislatures all over the nation (and on the federal level too, but don’t get me started on that!)

For example, if I happen to live in a legislative district which is in need of some state funds to finish a public works project, say road improvements, library, infrastructure upgrades, or the like, I would expect my representative to try to get such a project included in any state budget. However, if such a project is included with the intention of making money for a contractor, that is what I would call pork.

The term “pork” or “pork barrel” as been used historically to describe the latter, that is, a politician finding a way to repay a large contributor by funneling state (or federal) contracts to that contributor, usually a company or a “fat cat.”

As stated earlier, I am not from CA, and am not familiar with the particulars, but I hope this can help you with your decision.

Thank you for being such a concerned citizen!

Also, the talk of the government shutting down has been used in other instances to get a budget passed

could you give us a link? what is Prop 1A?

If you don’t live in CA or follow our politics there is not much you can do to help me. Thanks, though.

Personally I’m voting yes across the board. All are imperfect but necessary. I don’t see how the gov is able to cut any more from education. My wife is a teacher and she’s seen the decline of public school support for quite a while now, and the impact it’s had.

AstroChuck has it right. My first instinct is to vote against anything on a special ballot (nice way to lose $80 million).
I read through the ballot, and begrudgingly agree it is necessary.
I don’t like the way the Governator is threatening us with what he will do if it fails to pass. That’s terrorism.

Hubby is up in air about it also. My take is that no changes will occur if it passes or fails for several years anyway, so I’m voting NO.

BTW, I am unaware of any pork in 1A. I think that is just scare tactics by its opponents.

@filmfann I believe the ‘pork’ refers to the fact that it can be used for (B) Appropriation for one-time infrastructure or other capital outlay purposes.
(C) Appropriation to retire, redeem, or defease outstanding general obligation or other bonded indebtedness of the State.

The people making the ‘pork’ claim say this means the money can be diverted to items that do not benefit the general population, when in reality, they are the ones who could possibly lose their jobs by the passage of the proposition.

I’ve been so disconnected from politics I’m ashamed to say I don’t know enough to weigh in. (educates himself)

My progressive voter guide says to vote no on all the props (i’m in sf)

I have reread my voter book, and I am still confused on 1A-C. The way I see it, these 3 props. just kind of juggle money around. Ugh. The bureaucracy of this state makes me sick. Help!!!!!

Anything else? Anything?

True. They juggle money here. I have to do that sometimes to make ends meet. They have to ask our permission. Vote for it.

But it seems everything would remain even if we just voted no.

@tinyfaery I have reached the same conclusion. There is no new money, and when the promoters say we will lose this and that, what they are really saying is let the other guy lose instead. It’s just rob Peter to pay Paul. Vote NO.

Im voting no on the one that pulls money out of mental health and I am still undecided on the rest.

@Judi- To be honest, that’s the only one I’m struggling with. The others I see no reason to vote against. Fact is, the only one that will pass is 1F, the one regarding salary increases for elected officials in years where there’s a budget deficit.

To be honest, I haven’t bothered to read them. I believe that Schwarzenegger actually wants to try and fix the State fiscally. When he first came in, he kicked some butt, but then he found that attempting to implement conservative fiscal policies in a state with a liberal-owned legislature, was a losing battle, and he became a regular ineffectual politician. He tried to get some policies through a few years ago, but the unions stopped him in his tracks and all the propositions were shot down.

This time he’s playing the game like any other politician, and is using whatever leverage he can get to fight the unions. He gave us State employees a 10% pay cut in the form of two furlough days per month (a drop in the bucket, but it makes a good impression with the millions of non-State employees). The unions fought back and got an agreement that would, if ratified by their membership, eliminate one furlough day. After the contract was ratified, he would not accept it until it passed through the Legislature. Then it had to go through committees. Finally, it was halted until after the special election in order to hold the unions at bay (if the contract were not in play, the unions would fight to get a “No” vote on the propositions).

Now, Schwarzenegger is talking of adding a third furlough day to State employees and has mailed out layoff notices to (I think) 5000 workers, about 95% of which are from the Dept of Corrections, meaning prison guards. This is meant to scare us into a “Yes” vote to fix the State’s financial problems so we don’t get a bunch of inmates released early to rape our daughters and kill our sons.

In summary, I hate unions, so I want to vote “Yes”. I cannot afford another 5% pay cut on top of my 10% pay cut, so I want to vote “Yes”. I am pissed as Hell about the way he is using politics and 200,000 State employees to extort a “Yes” vote, so I want to vote “No”. That’s 2–1 in favor, so I am voting “Yes” across the board.

@ru2bz46 ; My son in laws are both correctional officers too. Please consider voting no on the mental health one!! Your work load will get a lot harder if it passes. Prevention is cheaper than neglect!

@Judi I’ll read up on it, for you and your sons-in-law. :-) I work for the Office of the State CIO.

My friend who is a teacher just told me that all the unions are saying to vote yes. I am very confused : (

If the props fail, the Governor will not be happy, and will not want to negotiate with the unions. He’s got them over a barrel, too. If the unions had already succeeded in getting their way, they would try to defeat the propositions. He’s holding them at bay with the election. If they campaign against him in any way, he’ll screw them by screwing us, which will make us mad at the unions for not standing up to the Governor. At least that’s how people are seeing it. It’s all a game, and Arnold has the deck stacked. Sometimes, you need to let the king win a game, or we all lose our heads.

It looks like I’m. Voting no on all of them.

Actually, I don’t even want to vote at all because I don’t want to make either side happy. I really dislike politics. :-(

I have an idea about the state deficit. Look up everyone who signed the petition to recall Davis and who voted for Schwarzeneggar, then divide the deficit evenly between them.

@PupnTaco That would only leave of about 10% of voters.

@ru2bz46 , And I would be one of them!

I did not vote for the recall. I feel about recalls the same way I feel about tattoo removal. You are stuck with what you get.