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| Home Front: Politix |
| Director Rob Reiner threatens hospitals on ballot issue |
| 2005-11-22 |
| By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, AP Political Writer Friday, November 18, 2005 Hollywood director Rob Reiner warned the California Hospital Association Friday to withdraw or rewrite a ballot proposal it's pushing for 2006, saying it threatens to snatch up to $34 million a year from needy preschoolers. "If the initiative remains in its current form, I will have no other option but to actively and aggressively oppose it," Reiner said in a letter to C. Duane Dauner, the association's president. At issue is the use of tens of millions of dollars in expected tobacco taxes. Reiner, a longtime activist, championed a 1998 ballot proposal slapping a 50-cents-a-pack tax on cigarettes to fund health and education programs for children up to 5 years old, now known as First 5 California. In his letter, Reiner argued the hospital proposal, which calls for a $1.50 tax on each pack of cigarettes to fund emergency rooms and other health programs, would slash First 5 funding. Don't quit smoking, folks, I, I mean the kids, need the money! If the state increased cigarette taxes as proposed by the hospitals, purchases would inevitably decline as smokers shop elsewhere for lower prices or give up the habit. If fewer cigarettes are sold in the state, tax collections will decline. In turn, First 5 would receive less money. The hospital proposal would compensate First 5 programs with $70 million a year to make up for the expected losses, according to an analysis by the state's Legislative Analyst's Office. Even so, analysts said those programs could lose up to $20 million annually because of lower cigarette sales. Reiner, who finds himself in the awkward position of arguing against a tax increase that could decrease smoking, pegged the loss at $34 million. "We all share the goal of reducing the harmful effects of smoking and improving access to health care," Reiner wrote. But "an initiative which cuts funding for children's health and early education is bad for California." When asked if the hospitals' campaign would drop or revise its proposal considering Reiner's complaint, spokeswoman Kris Deutschman said, "We have to move forward with the priority of keeping emergency rooms open. We would invite and encourage all parties to come join us." In a later phone call, she said the group would be eager to discuss the issue with Reiner. If enacted, the hospitals' proposal would raise an estimated $1.4 billion yearly. About two-thirds of it would go to fund emergency and trauma care services, with the rest distributed to a host of programs, including nursing education and those that discourage smoking. State law requires any increase in cigarette taxes also be applied to other tobacco products, such as snuff or loose tobacco, in an equivalent amount. Earlier this week, Reiner announced he collected more than a million signatures to get a separate initiative on the June ballot that would fund preschool for all California children, expanding on First 5. It would raise income taxes on wealthy residents to fund a year of preschool for all 4-year-olds. |
| Posted by:Deacon Blues |
| #7 It would raise the punishment for financial financial success to fund a year of parental shirking of responsibility for their childrens education. Why doesn't socialism work? |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2005-11-22 22:00 |
| #6 Don't worry....I'm sure there will be plenty of loopholes for the really rich Hollywood Elite such as Meathead to get out of it. Hmm... better.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-11-22 17:00 |
| #5 "Tax the rich to feed the poor until there are no rich no more I'd love to change the world but I don't know what to do" |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-11-22 16:33 |
| #4 1) Define "rich". I bet it's like 50k, which is nothing in parts of California. 2) Don't worry....I'm sure there will be plenty of loopholes for the really rich to get out of it. |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2005-11-22 15:57 |
| #3 It would raise income taxes on wealthy residents to fund a year of preschool for all 4-year-olds. Yep, tax the rich. Score one for class warfare. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-11-22 15:07 |
| #2 From the man made famous as "Meathead"... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-11-22 14:16 |
| #1 This guy is so full of himself. Hewitt thinks he might run against Arnold, but by the sound of him he thinks he is Governor already. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2005-11-22 12:53 |