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LWV CA Ed Fund LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF CALIFORNIA EDUCATION FUND
Nonpartisan Pros & Cons of

Proposition 10

STATE AND COUNTY EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.
ADDITIONAL TOBACCO SURTAX.

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Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute
THE QUESTION

Should an additional tobacco surtax be levied to fund supplemental early childhood development and anti-smoking programs throughout the state?

THE SITUATION

While a variety of federal, state, and local programs, called early childhood development programs, have been established to help children develop into healthy, well-adjusted adults, affordable, accessible childcare programs for children under five are in short supply for employed low-income families.

California currently imposes an excise tax on cigarettes of 37 cents per pack. This includes a 25-cent excise tax voters authorized by passing Proposition 99, the Tobacco Tax Initiative, in 1988, which is earmarked for programs to reduce smoking and promote good health.

THE PROPOSAL

Proposition 10 would:

  • create a new state commission, the California Children and Families First Act of 1998, to develop statewide guidelines for early childhood development and smoking prevention programs
  • create county commissions to develop strategic plans and programs that supplement and do not replace existing services
  • impose an additional 50 cents per pack tax on cigarettes to fund these programs, plus an equivalent amount on other tobacco products, for a total increase in state excise taxes equivalent to $1 per pack
  • exclude new tax revenues from the provisions of Proposition 98.
FISCAL EFFECT

The Legislative Analyst estimates that the new tax will raise $750 million for the Children and Families First Trust Fund, not the General Fund, in its first full year. Annual amounts will decline after that because of a decrease in consumption of tobacco products and a likely increase in out-of-state purchases of tobacco products.

SUPPORTERS SAY

  • Our youngest children would get the healthy foundation they need to succeed in school and in life
  • After Proposition 99 added a 25-cent cigarette tax, tobacco use declined 27 percent in five years.
OPPONENTS SAY
  • Unnecessary state and county commissions would add to the educational bureaucracy.
  • Revenues from increased tobacco tax are exempt from a Constitutional requirement that a percentage of all state revenues goes to schools.

(Analysis prepared by the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund.)


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Last updated: August 30, 1998
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