Published Wednesday, Novemeber 8, 2006, by the Los Angeles Times

Voters back all 5 public works bonds

The $37-billion package had bipartisan backing. Tax levies on oil
and cigarettes falter.

By Evan Halper and Jenifer Warren
Times Staff Writers

SACRAMENTO -- California voters were poised to approve $37 billion
in borrowing for a panoply of public works projects, according to
unofficial election returns Tuesday but were rejecting proposals to
expand government programs through new taxes on cigarettes and oil
companies.

The massive public works bond package was championed by Republican
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders after extensive
negotiations earlier this year. Appearing on the ballot as
propositions 1A through 1E, the plan would authorize borrowing for a
host of improvements to the state's roads, bridges, schools, ports
and levees.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) praised voters for
backing the bipartisan effort by lawmakers and the governor to shore
up California's aging infrastructure.

"When the Legislature and the governor work together to solve
people's problems, the voters stand with us," Nuñez said. "This is
a huge investment in California's future. It will continue to give
California the competitive edge."

Two other money-raising measures -- one seeking to tax oil companies
to promote the production of alternative fuels, the other aiming to
expand healthcare funding through a tax hike on cigarettes --
appeared headed for defeat.

Among the plethora of propositions facing voters this fall, they
were the most passionately contested, targets of noisy advertising
campaigns and heavy spending.

Topping the spending charts was the oil industry, which invested a
record amount -- at least $94 million -- against Proposition 87. The
measure sought to hit oil companies with billions of dollars in new
taxes to promote the production of alternative fuels.

Big money was spent in support of the measure as well, with Los
Angeles developer and movie producer Stephen Bing pumping nearly $50
million into the cause. Former President Clinton, meanwhile, had led
a gaggle of A-list celebrities in promoting the measure at events
around the state.

Proposition 86 sparked an equally vigorous fight, with the tobacco
industry spending lavishly against the proposal to more than
quadruple the tax on cigarettes. The measure had broad public
support in polls earlier in the year, but it dwindled as tobacco
companies boosted their campaign spending.

Their advertisements warned that only a small fraction of the
billions raised through the measure -- designed to expand healthcare
for low-income children and increase funding for emergency rooms and
research -- would go toward anti-smoking efforts. The hospitals and
public health organizations supporting the idea could not afford
much of a reply because they were outspent by the tobacco companies
nearly 5 to 1.

The record-shattering spending dismayed campaign finance reform
advocates.

"The process has been converted from the people's process into a
system in which public policy is up for sale," said Ned
Wigglesworth, policy advocate at Common Cause.

The proposed remedy on Tuesday's ballot, Proposition 89, would
introduce public campaign financing to California. The measure never
gained much traction with voters, however. By late Tuesday night,
incomplete returns showed it trailing badly.

In other proposition battles, a measure to toughen penalties for sex
offenders and restrict where they may live was headed to an easy
victory.

Proposition 83, dubbed Jessica's Law by proponents, drew little
campaign spending but held a strong lead in the polls from the
start.

Though crime has dropped lower on the list of voter priorities, sex
offenders consistently rank among society's most loathed criminals,
and measures that subject them to tougher punishment are passing
easily around the country.

Aside from imposing longer prison and parole terms for sex felons,
the measure would forbid released offenders from living within 2,000
feet of a park or school and would allow local governments to adopt
their own stricter residency rules.

Proposition 83, sponsored by a husband-wife team of Republican
legislators, also would require registered sex offenders to wear
electronic tracking devices for life and would make it easier to
designate a convict a "sexually violent predator."

The measure was backed by nearly every state lawmaker,
Schwarzenegger and his Democratic rival, Phil Angelides.

Another measure that addressed a controversial topic but drew
relatively little attention was Proposition 85, which would require
parental notification 48 hours before a minor could obtain an
abortion. With two-thirds of the vote counted, it was losing late
Tuesday. The measure was placed on the ballot one year after its
chief sponsor, San Diego newspaper publisher James Holman, lost a
push for a virtually identical law.

As in last year's effort, Holman was the largest individual donor
for Proposition 85, spending more than $2.5 million, while vintner
Don Sebastiani invested about $400,000 in the fight. Opponents
outspent proponents by more than $1 million, with the biggest chunk
of cash coming from Planned Parenthood affiliates around the state.

Supporters said the measure would protect girls by ensuring that
parents had a role in decisions related to abortion. Opponents said
such a law would force scared teens to make dangerous decisions,
either delaying abortions or seeking one from an unsafe provider.

The debates over propositions 84 and 88 were barely audible above
the din generated by other measures.

Proposition 88, the ballot's remaining effort to hike taxes, would
have increased the property tax bills of most California homeowners
by $50 a year to raise money for schools. But the measure was
abandoned by its backers early in the campaign, and it was losing
badly Tuesday night.

Proposition 84 was another bond issue, placed on the ballot through
the signature-gathering process. Written by a Sacramento lobbyist,
it sought to sink $5.4 billion into water quality improvements,
river and beach protection, park acquisition, flood control, museum
enhancements and a host of other efforts aimed at stretching the
state's water supply and safeguarding wild lands. Incomplete returns
showed it with a modest lead.

Still unclear late Tuesday was the voters' verdict on a little-
debated but potentially sweeping measure aimed at limiting
government's ability to seize homes and businesses for development.

Proposition 90, supported by many Republican lawmakers, was fiercely
opposed by a coalition of government and industry groups, including
the California Chamber of Commerce and the League of California
Cities.

They warned that the measure would hold up infrastructure
investments and paralyze the planning process.

evan.halper@latimes.com
jenifer.warren@latimes.com

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