Cheered on by CTA President Dean Vogel and a hundred educators, firefighters, nurses, and other working women and men who gathered at the Sacramento City Teachers Association, Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday afternoon urges voters to approve Proposition 30.

Governor  Jerry Brown came to the Sacramento City Teachers Association on Monday to thank educators for their hard work to pass Proposition 30 and to tell voters  they should not allow the political contributions of a few wealthy donors to dissuade  them from voting for the school funding measure.

Flanked by  CTA President Dean Vogel, SCTA President Scott Smith, and other educators, Gov.  Brown also denounced the efforts of a “wealthy trio” who have put millions of dollars into Super PACs in hopes of thwarting the will of working people in California.

The governor’s comments followed revelations from the Fair Political Practices Commission
earlier in the day that an Arizona Super PAC had admitted “laundering” $11 million in campaign contributions to a California Super PAC in order to defeat the school funding measure and pass Proposition 32, the Special Exemptions Act that aims to increase the political power of the super-wealthy by reducing the political involvement of working women and men who belong to unions.

Sacramento City Teachers Association President Scott Smith tells David Bieneck of KCRA TV about the extensive efforts that local teachers have undertaken to secure the passage of Proposition 30.

During his remarks, the governor thanked CTA in particular for its ability to mobilize its
members and produce the people power to help win the battle to pass Proposition
30.

The governor’s visit to the SCTA was  one of three major campaign stops made during a day that begin in San Diego.

Under pressure from California’s political watchdog, the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), an Arizona Political Action Committee has admitted that it took $11 million from another Super PAC, effectively “laundering” the money that it then contributed in an effort to defeat Proposition 30, the governor’s school revenue measure, and to pass Proposition 32, the Special Exemptions Act that would help wealthy special interests increase their political power.

According to the FPPC,  the Arizona-based Super PAC Americans for Responsible Leadership “today sent a letter declaring itself to be the intermediary and not the true source of the contribution.”

In a news release, the FPPC further said that the Arizona PAC “identified the true source of the contribution as Americans for Job Security, through a second intermediary, The Center to Protect Patient Rights. Under California law, the failure to disclose this initially was campaign money laundering. At $11 million, this is the largest contribution ever disclosed as campaign money laundering in California history.”

Ironically, Proposition 32 – one of the campaigns that benefited from the laundered $11 million contribution, bills that initiative as “campaign reform.”  But the measure would in fact exempt Super PACs from its regulations, making it even easier for organizations like the Arizona money-launderers to hide the sources of their funding and to increase their influence in the state capitol.

The other measure the laundered funds aimed to defeat, Proposition 30, would block $6 billion in devastating automatic or “trigger cuts” to schools and raise income taxes on the state’s wealthiest taxpayers.

The FPPC investigation was sparked by a call to action by California Common Cause, a non-partisan organization that, like the League of Women Voters, is opposed to Proposition 32 because it is “phony” reform aimed at helping wealthy special interests at the expense of middle class voters.

Read the full text of the FPPC news release 

Looking for sage advice on how to vote Tuesday on California’s
ballot measures? One need look no further than Monday’s offering by LA Times
Columnist George Skelton.  Skelton (pictured at left) is the award-winning journalist who’s been covering political shenanigans for decades from his perch in Sacramento.

Skelton has looked over each ballot measure closely and critically. Most importantly, he’s summed it all up quickly and succinctly, particularly Prop. 30, the governor’s revenue measure to aid public education, and Prop. 32, the cynical Special Exemptions Act aimed at
silencing the voices of union members and other middle class voters while boosting the political power of wealthy special interests.

Writes Skelton about Proposition 30: “It isn’t about “Sacramento politicians. It’s about whether to cut $5.9 billion more out of public education, from kindergarten through the universities. A yes vote means no cuts. A no vote brings out the machete….The measure isn’t perfect, but it’s the best option for now.”

Opines Skelton about Proposition 32: “The measure is cynically billed as ‘The Stop Special Interest Money Now Act.’ It’s actually about one crowd of interests on the right attempting to cripple a rival interest, labor, using $11 million in secret laundered money. It reeks.”

Read the entire column at Last Minute Advice on State Ballot Measures.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, CTA President Dean Vogel and Board member Don Dawson joined Fremont educators on Sunday to get out the vote.

With the surging CTA battle to pass Prop. 30 and stop billions in cuts to our schools and colleges going down to the wire, Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom and CTA President Dean E. Vogel energized Fremont educators and supporters at a news conference today to pass the governor’s tax measure and to defeat the deceptive Prop. 32.

“We have got to step up and step in to support Proposition 30,” Newsom told a crowd of educators before they went out to do precinct walking or make phonecalls to voters. “This is about California’s future. This is about the California Dream. This is about California growth and it’s about our recovery.”

The choice is clear for voters, he said, and it’s between the governor’s balanced ballot plan to provide a “structurally sound budget” to put the state back on the road to recovery, or the Legislature having to make “devastating” immediate cuts to our schools, colleges and universities. “I cannot encourage you more to say Yes on 30!”

Newsom also ripped the deceptive Prop. 32 as a direct attack on unions and the middle class.“Prop. 32 is about as bad as it gets, as deceitful as it gets,” he said. “Yes on 30 and No on 32!”

CTA President Dean Vogel called Newsom “an incredible champion for public education” and thanked all the volunteers present for getting out the vote — educators, nurses, parents and other supporters from several Bay Area unions. “If the people vote, we’re going to win,” he said. He said the campaign to protect our schools and the middle class has forged an unprecedented unity among all labor and among Californians in general. “We understand that the viability of our communities and the welfare of our families is dependent on Prop. 30 getting passed and Prop. 32 going down.”

The weekend event was held in the bustling offices of the Fremont Unified District Teachers Association, where President Brannin Dorsey said campaigning must continue in these final hours. “We will continue to work until we win this,” she said to applause. “We must stick together!”

Photo above:  (from r.) Backed by California Labor Federation Leader Art Pulaski, Elementary Teacher Toby Boyd and SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker, CTA Pres. Dean Vogel thanks phone bank volunteers on Saturday at the Sacramento City Teachers Association for their efforts to pass Proposition 30, the governor’s revenue measure for schools, and to defeat Proposition 32, the Special Exemptions Act that would increase the political power of wealthy special interests.

Photo left: (from l.) CTA Pres. Vogel, SEIU President Walker, SCTA President Scott Smith, and California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer and Chief Officer Art Pulaski spearheaded the phone banking at Sacramento City Teachers Association Saturday morning.

During their remarks Saturday morning to volunteers at the Sacramento City Teachers Association.CTA Pres. Dean Vogel, SEIU Local President Yvonne Walker, and California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski cited a positive result of the challenges facing working women and men:   The opportunity to secure desperately needed new state revenues offered by Proposition 30 and the dire threat to working women and men posed by Proposition 30, the Special Exemptions Act, have solidified labor in California.

CTA President Vogel said that those who have attacked unions with ballot measures such as Proposition 32 won’t stop their efforts, and it would be “insane” for labor not to maintain the close ties that have been forged in this campaign.

SEIU President Walker noted that labor had not worked this closely together ever before.

The mood at the SCTA campaign headquarters was upbeat, just days before the election.

California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski put it this way: “You can’t defeat the heart and soul of the people who are fighting for justice.”

Photo above: Several hundred students from the Sacramento area raise their voices outside the state Capitol in support of Proposition 30, the governor’s revenue measure to aid public education. (Photo by Ed Amundson)

They came to the Capitol on Friday afternoon to make the point: students are being hurt by the massive cuts that have hit public education at all levels.  For higher education students, the $20 billion in K-University cuts have meant fewer classes, higher tuition, and fewer seats in community colleges, the state colleges, and the state universities.

Proposition 30 is the only measure on the November ballot that will prevent another $500 million in cuts at the state colleges and universities and more cuts at the community colleges.

Given the importance of the measure to higher education students, Gov. Jerry Brown has been visiting college campuses around the state to help mobilize student voters to support the measure.

Photo above: CTA President Deal Vogel (c.) joins more than 60 educators at the Sacramento City Teachers Association making phones calls to voters to secure the passage of Proposition 30, the only measure on the ballot to stop $6 billion in trigger cuts to schools, and to defeat Proposition 32, the Special Exemptions Act that will increase the political power of wealthy
special interests.

Photo left: Educator Carlos Rico tells a reporter for Channel 19, the Spanish language station in the Sacramento media market, why passing Proposition 30 is so vital for schools, students, and their families.

Throughout California on the last weekend before Election Day, thousands of dedicated educators are making phone calls, walking precincts, and giving media interviews – all urging voters to approve Proposition 30 and defeat Proposition 32.

For public education and its nearly one million students, the passage of Proposition 30 is crucial.  It will stop $6 billion in automatic or “trigger” cuts from taking effect.  Additional cuts of that magnitude will hit schools hard, schools that have already been slammed by more
than $20 billion in cuts.

For middle class voters and working women and men, the defeat of Proposition 32 will ensure that their voices will be heard in the state Capitol and not be drowned out by the unfettered political contributions of wealthy special interests.

Wealthy special interests are hard at work, trying to defeat Proposition 30 and pass Proposition 32.  To counter potentially illegal activities, the state’s political watchdog agency, the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), has gone to court in hopes of forcing one out-of-state Super PAC to reveal the sources of the $11 million it has given for Prop. 30 and against
Prop.  32.

Polls are open from 7:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. on Tuesday, November 6.  Persons who have received vote-by-mail ballots are urged to consider dropping them off at polling places on Tuesday instead of putting them in the mail and risking that they do not arrive in time.

If you ever had any doubts about the importance of voter approval of Proposition 30, the governor’s revenue measure to finance public education, you can let them go now.

The prestigious Los Angeles Times editorial board has reiterated its support for Proposition 30 and spelled out precisely how failing to pass the proposition will harm schools and the state.

BTW, Proposition 30 is the only measure on the November ballot that will stop $6 billion in automatic or “trigger” cuts that will further decimate K-12 schools, the community colleges, and the state’s university systems.  Public education students have already been hit hard by  more than $20 billion in cuts to schools.

Read the entire editorial: The Compelling Case for Prop. 30.

1. Write a Letter to the Editor
2. Call 30 people in the state to vote for Prop 30
3. Before school, place Prop 30 signs at the corners of the school ground- public property
4. Put a sign in your car
5. Write everyone on your email list
6. Change your Facebook picture to Yes on 30
7. Tweet using #yeson30 – let’s get it trending
8. Phone bank your own family…tell them about the importance of passing Prop 30
9. Wear a Yes on 30 button- make it yourself if you can’t find one.
10. Ask your local coffee shop, restaurant, grocery if you can put up a Yes on 30 sign
11. Share a Pro-30 editorial with your Facebook friends
12. Stand on the corner with a Yes on 30 sign
13. Grab some friends and line the streets carrying Yes on Prop 30 signs
14. Share this tumblr:  LA Teachers Discuss Impact of 15 Fewer Instruction Days
15. Bring up the school funding cuts in conversations with neighbors and talk about how Prop 30 will stop trigger cuts from going into effect.
16.  Volunteer to phone bank
17. Use old fashion canvassing and GOTV with other union organizations.  Don’t waste time getting cute or fancy
18. Put up a Yes on 30 lawn sign
19. Call in to your local talk radio show and explain why we need to pass Prop 30
20. Send an email to parent listservs offering information on Prop 30
21. Show a class of 40 kids…kindergarten age…with one teacher trying to teach to this crowd and ask people if they want their child, grandchild, niece, nephew, to get their educational start in that kind of environment!
22. 3-0, let’s go! 3-2, pee-eww! It’s the simple sound bite that wins elections in this country unfortunately.
23. Make a video – funny, serious, scary – and share it on Facebook and YouTube.
24. Post a Facebook status telling your friends why you support Prop 30 and hope they do too
25. Craft a list a la Letterman: 10 Reasons to vote for Prop 30
26. Explain the child care costs some people will face if we lose 3 weeks of instruction — that alone might give some people cause to think a bit more on it. $200 per year in sales tax is a lot less than a month of child care.
27. Bring up the election while at dentist appoints, doctor appointments, getting your car serviced, in line at the grocery store – use every interaction as an education opportunity
28. Remind friends that the income tax increase only affects individuals making over $250,000
29. Help friends understand the sales tax increase this way: The only “tax increase” most Californian’s will see is a 1/4 cent sales tax. One penny for every $4 spent. If I spend $4,000 on taxable items in a year, that is $10.
30. Combine your YES on 30 efforts with your NO on 32 efforts!

Photo above: From l., During a Monday night panel discussion sponsored by USC’s Sol Price School of Public Affairs in Sacramento, Assembly Member Roger Dickinson details how the governor’s revenue plan, Prop. 30, is the only ballot measure that will prevent $6 billion in additional cuts to the already ravaged K-12 public schools, the community colleges, and the state’s university systems, as revenue opponent John Kabateck of the National Federation of Independent Businesses prepares to make his case against any new revenues.

Photo left:  Dan Schnur (standing),  the director of the Jesse Unruh Center for Politics at USC, poses questions to Assembly Member Dickinson and three other panelists Monday night in front of an audience of about 65 students, faculty, visitors, and reporters.