Ballot plans get a boost

A business group backs pension shift, teacher tenure issues

Andy Furillo, Sacramento Bee, March 1, 2005

A business-backed campaign committee closely tied to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced its support Monday for two initiatives backed in concept by the Republican administration. One of the measures advocated by the Citizens to Save California, which would dump the state's defined-benefit pension system for public employees and replace it with a defined contribution mechanism, was cleared Monday by the secretary of state's office to begin the signature-gathering process.

The other initiative would require public school teachers to remain on the job for five years instead of two before they could qualify for tenure. It does not, however, contain a provision to shift teachers to a merit pay system - one of four key reform proposals Schwarzenegger has demanded from the Legislature.

The announcement came on the eve of today's deadline, which Schwarzenegger set in January for lawmakers to act on his agenda.

Yet to be decided is which specific measures the committee and the governor will embrace on merit pay for teachers, redistricting and state spending. Schwarzenegger scheduled a news conference for today.

His spokeswoman, Margita Thompson, declined Monday to comment specifically. "Stay tuned," Thompson said.

Still, one of the co-chairs of the Citizens to Save California, the committee that is hoping to raise $50 million to finance the Schwarzenegger-supported initiatives, called the first two rolled out Monday "an important part of reforming California and making it the Golden State again."

"Ensuring California's kids get a quality education and that our retirement system doesn't bankrupt local communities are a top priority of this committee," co-chairman Joel Fox said in a prepared statement.

A spokesman for the Democratic speaker of the state Assembly expressed disappointment that the committee, if its move reflects the thinking of the governor, has signaled that there is no chance to work anything out with the Legislature and that a special election in November is all but guaranteed.

"It's tragic he wants to spend $70 million of taxpayer money to put the initiatives on the ballot when they haven't even been fully reviewed by the Legislature," said Steve Maviglio, a spokesman for Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles.

"We're having the pension hearing Wednesday."

The pension initiative backed by the committee is being circulated by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. The measure virtually mirrors a pension proposal supported by Schwarzenegger, shifting state workers hired on or after July 1, 2007, into a 401(k)-type plan that would significantly reduce the state's financial contribution to their retirement pay.

Jon Coupal, president of the taxpayer group, is a board member of Citizens to Save California. Coupal said he expects the petitions for the pension measure to be printed up "very shortly" and that he is "optimistic" that the committee will have the funds in the same time frame to pay for the multimillion-dollar signature-gathering effort.

"We're good to go," Coupal said.

The teacher tenure initiative, which is still under review by the secretary of state's office, extends a new employee's probationary period from two to five years. The initiative is being sponsored by Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City.

Garcia said she was not contacted by the committee about her measure. But she characterized as "awesome" the support she will be receiving from the group backed by the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Business Roundtable and others.

Since his State of the State speech, Schwarzenegger on several occasions has promised to take his reform measures to "the people" if the Legislature had not acted on them by today's deadline.

Besides pension reform, the governor has called for merit pay for teachers, a new budgetary control mechanism and taking redistricting away from the Legislature and giving it to a panel of independent judges for a mid-decade makeover.

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Last modified: March 1, 2005

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