The California Teachers Association strongly recommends your support for the four State Measures on the March 2 ballot:
Yes on Proposition 55: Kindergarten – University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2004. This is the second installment of the school construction bond and was passed by the legislature in 2002. Many school districts, including Burbank, have construction projects under way as a result of the passage of the first construction bond in 2000. In order to finish the job of reconstruction and modernization, this new bond is also needed. BUSD still has $2.6 million in approved applications waiting for state funding. It is estimated that California still needs 22,000 new classrooms to relieve overcrowding and accommodate population growth in the next decade. Passage of Proposition 55 will ensure that BUSD and California can finish the job of new classroom construction for all of our sites.
Yes on Proposition 56: Budget Accountability Act. This CTA sponsored initiative would permit the legislature to pass a state budget with a 55% majority instead of the current two-thirds super majority. California is now one of only three states that require a two-thirds majority to pass a budget — the primary reason that we can’t get budgets on time. The way it is now, a minority can, and does, block passage of the budget year-after-year. Taxes can be lowered by a simple majority but they can only be raised by a super majority. This puts too much influence into the hands of special interests who would block public education and other essential public services. Proposition 56 would also require the governor and legislature to forfeit compensation each day a budget is late.
Yes on Proposition 57 and 58: The Economic Recovery Bond Act (Prop. 57); The California Balanced Budget Act (Prop. 58). These two bonds must both be passed in order to be enacted. Proposition 57 is a one-time bond of $15 billion. The money will be used to refinance past deficits at a time when interest rates are very low. Proposition 58 is a spending limit designed to prevent our being in a similar fiscal mess in the future. It will prohibit borrowing to finance state budget deficits. It will also create a rainy day savings account that will be used to pay off the bonds early and build a cushion for future economic downturns. If these initiatives do not pass, and the state must face cutting another $15 billion from the budget, the Governor and the Legislature will be forced to look at making additional cuts to education, and the $2 billion increase for education that’s part of the budget agreement will be gone. If these two initiatives do not pass there is no way to avoid drastic cuts to all state services, including education, health care, and local police and firefighters.