What happened to the CFT tax initiative?????

Gov. Jerry Brown

There are new developments in the number of tax initiatives that could be on the November state ballot in California. Governor Brown has come to an agreement with the California Federation of Teachers leadership on a tax initiative compromise to ensure that there will be only two competing tax initiatives on the ballot in November.  I was on a conference call as part of the CFT Executive Council to make a formal vote on the initiative compromise with Governor Brown for a future rewritten tax initiative. I will be honest and say that the decision to drop the Millionaires Tax was not an easy decision for the CFT Executive Board; however, I fully support the decision to move forward on a compromise initiative for reasons I will state below.

As part of that board I have stated locally throughout the last six months the need for clarity and discussion of CFT's desired political outcomes and possible exit strategies were crucial to gauging the success of the CFT initiative venture. I believe that the willingness and opportunity to work with the Governor for a tax compromise was just one of those initial possible outcomes.

The CFT in the Spring of 2011 reached out to the CTA (California Teachers Association) to work collaboratively on a tax initiative but the CTA were reluctant to work with

CFT President Josh Pechthalt

the CFT on any possible legislation. The newly elected CFT leadership of President Josh Pechthalt and Secretary Treasurer Jeff Freitas who were elected in March 2011 were left in the lurch with a desire to help education and crucial public services. Determined to not be shut out of the political process at such a critical moment in the educational/State history the CFT Executive Leadership decided to both support and research a tax initiative that would truly impact the critical education and public services and would NOT be used for the California General Fund. Regardless of the fact that the Millionaires' Tax polled exceedingly well it still did not gain the favor of other larger labor organizations who felt it was better to throw in with the Governor to protect their political capitol. Furthermore, the CFT Leadership found itself increasingly being attacked for having a separate tax initiative by the press and the CTA. To complicate matters CFT also faced a two front war by having to compete with the robustly funded thirty million dollar Munger tax initiative. Things were beginning to look like they resembled Sparta in the movie 300.

Like the little engine that could the CFT Leadership determinately moved forward and many of us were very hopeful of the growing interest in the Millionaires Tax. What to do? It was a hopeful moment for the CFT leadership when the Governor visited CFT President Josh Pechthalt at his home last month, the CFT had gained the political respect it deserved and with respect comes political capitol. It became aparent that a deal could be reached with dignity and CFT will gain political traction in a time where the policies of education in the state are dominated by the vast political machinery of CTA.

For some local union leaders and their members  the tax compromise came as a shock and has caused some unintended outcomes among members throughout California; however, they cannot deny that there were some serious concerns about the sustainability of the Millionaires Tax Innative Campaign. I will leave it to you to decide on the success of the compromise and if it was the right move. In my opinion I do see it as a success. There will be fewer taxes on those who cannot afford a sales tax increase, the bill will now generate a million more each year, and the length of the tax has been increased by two years over the previous version of the Governor's plan.

Tayna Golden a member of the ABCFT negotiating team and teacher at Carver Elementary has been the ABCFT point person on the California Federation of Teachers Millionaires Tax. The following is her report on an informational telephone conference yesterday.
She writes:

"Just listened to a conference call that explained a changed in the governor's initiative, which in turn has changed our initiative. The governor has reached an agreement with Courage Campaign (us) to rewrite his plan. The agreement means we drop ours and back his. Here are a few highlights of his new initiative;

1/4 cent sales tax (was 1/2) lasting 4 years, (was 7 years)
3% tax after $250k single/$500k couples lasting 7 years (was 2% after $250k)
Estimated to raise 9 billion annually.
No specific earmarks for educations, however, lawmakers claiming they will fund CSU and UC system so tuition fees are flat.
No specific reference to K-12 education, but the purpose of the initiative is to raise $$ for education.

 We were making strides in signature collecting, but lacked the ability to refute any challenges that were coming from the opposition.

So, what does this mean for us? Our initiative is still active. However, if the governor makes the promised modifications ours is dead. I suggest we put our efforts on hold until we get a clearer idea of how to proceed."

The ABCFT will keep you informed on the latest initiatives in the future. The link below is a newspaper article that has a few more details about the initiative compromise.

www.ocregister.com/news/tax-344629-plan-governor.html


In Solidarity,

Ray Gaer
President, ABC Federation of Teachers
CFT Vice President