By overwhelming margins, California voters rejected the false solutions on the special election ballot in the May 19th statewide election, sending Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Legislature back to the drawing board. SEIU members helped defeat several propositions that would have hobbled the state's public services with devastating cuts to community-based mental health services, health care, education and child welfare. Voters rejected a permanent cap on public service spending by a margin of two to one.

What was on the ballot: Prop. 1A put caps on funding for public services, using low-funded crisis years as the baseline, and also greatly enhanced the Governor's power to make mid-year budget cuts to pretty much any department without having to ask the Legislature. SEIU also opposed Prop. 1D and 1E, which raided children's health and mental health funds. By defeating Proposition 1E in particular, union members helped prevent more than $460 million in cuts to vital mental health services--and protect the successful Mental Health Services Act approved by California voters five years ago.

SEIU members in California joined with clients, families, workers, advocates, and community leaders in the effort to defeat Prop. 1A , 1D and 1E, making phone calls to thousands of SEIU members, participating in the May 13 rallies in downtown Los Angeles and outreach to members at their worksites and online. And their hard work paid off by a wide margin: 65.9 percent of voters said "no" to Prop. 1A, 65.8 percent rejected Proposition 1D and 66.4 percent voted "no" on Proposition 1E. Read more about the election results in the San Francisco Chronicle.

"I need your help. Here in California there is a ballot initiative called Prop. 1A that would put a cap on what we spend. Supposedly in the good years, extra money would be put in to a 'rainy day' fund. In lean years, I think, money would be pulled back out."

A few days ago, we received a link to a video on Colorado's experience with TABOR, a law that -- like Proposition 1A in the May 19 special election -- put caps on funding for public services, using low-funded crisis years as the baseline. The video, by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, shows how a so-called "Taxpayer Bill Of Rights" ended up costing taxpayers even more than before, while turning Colorado into one of the worst-funded states in the country for health care, education, senior services, and just about everything else.

Well, one of SEIU Local 1021's members in Sonoma County -- an Employment and Training Program Coordinator, Alix Shor -- felt compelled to dig deeper. She wanted to know if the video was true (will Prop. 1A guarantee budget disaster every year?) or just campaign propaganda from her union. So she wrote and asked a lifelong friend now living in Colorado.

"On the other hand, if Prop. 1A doesn't pass, the budget goes back to the Legislature whom I would like to fire every single last one of them for their doing nothing since Prop. 13 passed many years ago and completely ruined the state you and I grew up in. Excuse the rant."

Later, she e-mailed her friends and co-workers her friend's report:

"The video plus Ruth's take on what has happened...leads me to believe that as bad as it is to send the Legislature back to work on the budget, the long term effects of Prop. 1A will be so much worse."

Read Ruth's report after the jump, as well a quick rundown of how Prop. 1A would affect California's budget and fiscal situation if written into the state Constitution.