The votes have been cast and the ballots counted, but the work
has just begun for policy analysts trying to make sense of
Tuesday’s election.
With the high number of ballot initiatives in California, there
was much to vote on and a lot of information to take in. This makes
it difficult for many Californians to understand the full impact of
the elections.
So where will Super Tuesday’s results take California and
the rest of the nation?
To help sort out the uncertainty, the UCLA School of Public
Policy and Social Research is putting on an election wrap-up
forum.
Bill Parent, director of the forum, said, “It’s
really an opportunity to let the larger UCLA community in on the
hallway conversations of the School of Public Policy.”
“All elections are important. They open up a whole set of
questions about the direction of policy. You don’t get to ask
those questions until after the people have spoken.”
The forum features speakers such as Michael Dukakis, former
presidential candidate, Richard Katz, visiting policy studies
professor and former California assemblyman, Steve Olsen, UCLA
chancellor of finance and budget, and many others.
Representatives from the Bruin Democrats and Bruin Republicans
have also been invited. The discussion should be lively, as both
liberal and conservative viewpoints will be represented.
Among the topics of conversation will be John Kerry’s
victory in California and likely presidential nomination as well as
the outcomes of the state propositions and their effects on
California.
After a series of primary and caucus wins Tuesday, Kerry looks
set to take the Democratic presidential nomination and compete with
President Bush in November.
Proposition 57, which was strongly supported by Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, was passed and allows the state to take out a $15
billion bailout bond. Many see the bond as necessary, but others
worry about the way California has chosen to finance its budget
deficit.
“It’s a good thing for the university that the bond
passed, otherwise the state would have found itself running short
of cash by the end of the fiscal year,” said Daniel Mitchell,
professor of policy studies and management and a forum member.
The California Balanced Budget Act, Proposition 58, was the
other measure endorsed by Schwarzenegger. It also passed
Tuesday.
UC President Robert Dynes agreed that 57 and 58 were important
to higher education, saying in a statement that “the passage
of these ballot measures will prevent even worse damage to UC
programs that have a deep impact on educational opportunity,
economic growth, health and quality of life in
California.”
Proposition 56 was a hotly contested proposition and failed on
election day. It would have lowered the percent of the vote needed
in the state Legislature to pass tax or budget related proposals
from a two-thirds majority to 55 percent.
Proposition 55, the $12.3 billion bond issue to improve
California public schools, narrowly passed with a margin of less
than 100,000 votes. This bond measure includes $690 million for the
University of California. There are many questions as to how the
state will pay for this bond because of the already massive debt
incurred by the state.
The forum will take place at 12 p.m. today in Public Policy
2343/2355.