WHAT 1D WILL DO: Redirects 50-cent tobacco tax from ‘First 5’ initiative to state-run health programs for next five years.
WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE YES: Without 1D, several basic California programs vital to children’s health and well-being would be cut.
It’s hard to think of anyone more deserving of an extra 50-cent donation ‘mdash; fueled by your nicotine fix ‘mdash; than underprivileged under-five-year-olds. That’s why, 10 years ago, voters couldn’t grumble too loudly when asked to pass the Children and Families First Act, which would promote ‘First 5’ health-care and smoking-prevention programs by bumping the cigarette tax up two precious quarters.
Though the proposition passed by a mere 0.5 percent margin, its spare change has gone to a much better place than the next pack. ‘First 5’ overcame a rocky start plagued with controversial campaigns, and now lends a much-needed crutch to families without the resources to help their children make it through the crucial early years.
Nothing could appear more heartless than redirecting $268 million a year for five years from an organization dedicated to children’s health to the state’s vaguely cold ‘general fund,’ for the suits to divvy up as they please. However, a decade of more fruitful days allowed for $2.5 billion of unspent ‘First 5’ dough to build up in case of emergency ‘mdash; and I think we can agree this is an emergency. If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s propositions don’t pass, we’re looking at the gutting of much more basic children’s health programs than the luxurious-by-comparison services enacted 10 years ago by the Children and Families First Act. No one wants to take steps backward after coming so far, but until the economy starts its engines again, it’s progressive add-ons like the admirable ‘First 5’ program who unfortunately have to take one for the team.