Editorials Address Ballot Measure To Fund Children’s Hospitals

Two newspapers recently published editorials addressing Proposition 61, a measure on the Nov. 2 statewide ballot that would provide $750 million to pay for construction, expansion and equipment for children's hospitals. Including interest, the measure would cost about $1.5 billion over 30 years (California Healthline, 9/27). Summaries appear below.

• Contra Costa Times: Proposition 61 would provide "improved treatments and possible cures for diseases and opportunities for better care for more children," a Times editorial states. Although "this is not the time to be hitting the general fund," the editorial states that California "can afford" to pay $50 million a year to fund children's hospitals. The Times recommends that residents vote "yes" on Proposition 61 (Contra Costa Times, 10/8).
  
  
• Stockton Record: Proposition 61 "represents the continuing failure of lawmakers" and "is a commitment the state's residents can't afford to make," according to a Stockton Record editorial. The editorial "urge[s] voters to turn away Proposition 61 and then push lawmakers in the next session to look for new ways -- through incentives and tax credits or something more creative -- to attract private investment in meeting this need" (Stockton Record, 10/11).