Ballot Measures Draw Biggest Contributions
More than $200 million has been raised for California ballot initiatives and the gubernatorial campaign, but campaign filings show that most of the money is going to a ballot measure that would increase the tax on a pack of cigarettes to fund health programs and a measure that would tax oil companies to fund alternative energy research, the MediaNews/Oakland Tribune reports. The campaign reports were filed Thursday and cover the period from July 1 through Sept. 30.
Filings show that opponents of Proposition 86 raised $49.8 million, with more than $47 million contributed by tobacco companies Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. The No campaign has spent $47 million, primarily on television advertisements.
Supporters of the measure have raised $12.2 million and have spent $11.8 million (Folmar/Feder Ostrov, MediaNews/Oakland Tribune, 10/6). The ballot measure would provide funds for health care programs by increasing the state tobacco tax by $2.60 per pack (California Healthline, 10/5).
Meanwhile, opponents of Proposition 85, a measure that would require parental notification before a minor could receive an abortion, have raised about $3.8 million, mostly in contributions from Planned Parenthood. Supporters of the measure had not filed a report as of late Thursday, the MediaNews/Tribune reports.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides has raised $16 million in contributions, many of them from labor unions, according to the filings. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has raised nearly $32 million, primarily from business interests, the filings show (MediaNews/Oakland Tribune, 10/6).
KPCC's "AirTalk" on Thursday included a discussion of Proposition 86. The segment includes comments from Adrian Moore, vice president of research for the Reason Foundation and an opponent of the measure, and Charlie Smith -- chair of the Coalition for a Healthy California, which supports the measure (Mantle, "AirTalk," KPCC, 10/5). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
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