Voter Support for Health-Related Ballot Measures Varies; Residents Evenly Divided Over Stem Cell Research Funding

Four health-related measures that will appear on the Nov. 2 statewide ballot are receiving varying levels of support from state residents who are "generally not familiar" with them, according to a Field Poll survey released Sunday, the Stockton Record reports. The poll, which surveyed 1,034 likely voters between July 30 and Aug. 8, found that fewer than 20% of respondents who said they planned to vote had heard about propositions 61, 63 or 67, while 40% had heard of Proposition 71, an initiative that would provide the state with funding for human stem cell research (Cooper, Stockton Record, 8/15). The poll's findings are detailed below.

• Proposition 61, a $750 million measure that would pay for construction, expansion and equipment for children's hospitals, received support from 47% of respondents, compared with 31% who said they opposed the measure (Davidson, San Francisco Chronicle, 8/15). Including interest, the program would cost about $1.5 billion over 30 years (California Healthline, 7/6).
  
  
• Proposition 63, a measure that would finance an expansion of mental health services, received support from 59% of respondents, with 29% saying they would vote against the measure (San Francisco Chronicle, 8/15). The initiative would increase by 1% the state personal income tax on individuals whose annual incomes exceed $1 million to finance an expansion of mental health services. The measure would raise an estimated $700 million annually to care for people with severe mental illnesses (California Healthline, 7/6).
  
  
• Proposition 67, an initiative that would add a 3% surcharge to residential telephone bills to fund hospital emergency services and training, was opposed by 47% of respondents and supported by 37% (San Francisco Chronicle, 8/15). The initiative would generate an estimated $550 million annually to fund emergency department services (California Healthline, 7/6).
  
  
• According to the San Francisco Chronicle, there is a "sharp division of opinion" among voters over Proposition 71 (San Francisco Chronicle, 8/15). The initiative that would raise an average of $295 million annually for a decade to promote stem cell research through the issue of state bonds. The measure would provide funds for a new stem cell research center at a University of California campus, as well as grants and loans for laboratory projects at other colleges. State analysts say the measure would cost a total of $6 billion, including interest (California Healthline, 6/7). The poll found that 45% of respondents supported the measure, 42% opposed it and 13% were undecided. Support for the initiative, which the Field Poll called "perhaps the most controversial" measure on the Nov. 2 statewide ballot, was divided along age, gender and educational lines, with voters younger than age 40, women and college graduates more likely than men and high school graduates to support the initiative (San Francisco Chronicle, 8/15).

Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll, said preferences for propositions 61 and 63 stemmed from respondents' willingness to fund initiatives with sources of revenue that are less personal than general tax increases, such as bonds or tax increases for high-income residents.

Respondents conversely opposed Proposition 67 because of "unclear ballot language about where the money would come from," the Sacramento Bee reports.

"It has to do there with the source of the revenues rather than the cause," DiCamillo said, adding, "Taxing people with $1 million or more incomes, most voters say, 'It doesn't apply to me, so that's fine.'" However, DiCamillo said, "The emergency services cause is probably seen in the same high levels of importance as mental health or children's hospitals" (Benson, Sacramento Bee, 8/15).

According to the Chronicle, the poll found that the campaign surrounding Proposition 71 "appears to have become a microcosm -- California-size -- of the equally polarized national presidential race" (San Francisco Chronicle, 8/15).

DiCamillo said of the poll results on Proposition 71: "What is interesting about it is that the voting public is so partisan and so polarized so early." He added, "Preference on the issue of stem cells has a direct correlation to the vote choice in the presidential election" (Krieger, San Jose Mercury News, 8/15).

The ballot titles and summaries for propositions 61, 63, 67 and 71 are available online. Note: You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to access the documents.

The survey is available online. Note: You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to access the survey.