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San Francisco County, CA March 2, 2004 Election
Smart Voter

Why I oppose Proposition H

By Colin V. Gallagher

Candidate for Member of the State Assembly; District 13; Republican Party

This information is provided by the candidate
The following is an extended version of the ballot argument which I submitted against Proposition H, which would amend the San Francisco City Charter to allocate at least 2.5% of the City's General Fund to create a "Public Education Enrichment Fund" to spend in designated public education programs.
California's ongoing fiscal crisis is in part because the Legislature and voters have designated certain spending priorities without specifying how those priorities will be paid for. The proponents of Proposition H would have us do the same at the local level by allocating spending for art, physical education and other programs without specifying what budger cuts or tax increases should be made to offset the amounts set aside under this proposed Charter Amendment. This proposal would also require that the City pay $60 million per year by FY2009-2010 towards designated programs without any projection of how much a share of the General Fund these contributions would take. The proponents rely upon optimistic expectations regarding the health of the local economy and the City's revenue stream that may not be borne out in reality.

The language in the proposed Charter Amendment that the Board of Supervisors may reduce the City's contribution to the "Public Education Enrichment Fund" by any monies received from the state is not a realistic limit on spending. Even if the state were to contribute more education funding to San Francisco, elected officials are are unlikely to have the political will to make such offsets when advocates of greater spending on public education will portray such offsets as actual spending cuts.

The proposal additionally fails to establish why one-third of the "Public Education Enrichment Fund' should be allocated to art, music and physical education programs while science and engineering programs, for example, would not receive a set-aside. Even if spending in these areas would promote greater "self-esteem" on the part of student artists, athletes and musicians in the SFUSD, the measure unfairly stigmatizes students of the sciences by excluding them from the $60 million subsidy.

Finally, decisions about spending priorities in the next 12 years are better left to our elected officials, rather than enacted by referendum without the public being fully informed about which other programs should be cut or whose taxes should be raised to provide for these guaranteed levels of spending. This measure is ill-advised and would contribute to the City's budget chaos without resolving any of the problems of the San Francisco Unified School District. Vote no on Proposition H.

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ca/state Created from information supplied by the candidate: February 9, 2004 09:16
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