The Deception of California’s Prop 1

Attorney General Rob Bonta is at it again, employing half-truths and deceptive political language that mask the reality of our state’s legislative agenda. While his previous “infamous” tactics regarding the Proposition 39 voter ID initiative were concerning, they pale in comparison to the atrocity that is Proposition 1, which shamelessly exploits the names of our veterans to push through a massive bond for low-income, farm, tribal, and youth housing.

As Californians, we hold a deep and sacred respect for our service members, and this blatant manipulation of their reputation is a bridge too far.

This issue is personal for those of us who understand the cost of service; having grown up in an Air Force family during the Vietnam War—donating blood for the wounded as a student in Okinawa—and as the parent of a son who served in Iraq, it is appalling to watch Sacramento politicians use the veteran community to secure approval for an $11.5 billion bond.

One has to wonder if decency and respect have been cast aside and left blowing out to the ocean, as these values certainly haven’t found a home in Sacramento. The title “Veteran and Housing Assistance Programs Bond” is designed to give voters the immediate impression that we are supporting our heroes, but the numbers tell a much different, darker story.

In 2018, California passed a $4 billion Veterans bond that prioritized service members by directing $3 billion specifically to their programs. In contrast, Prop 1 allocates only $1.5 billion to Veterans programs while $10 billion is funneled toward special interest programs and nonprofit agencies with little to no accountability. We must ask ourselves if we really want to pass another tax bill where 90% of the money is scattered to the winds by Sacramento bureaucrats.

History has taught us that we cannot trust these proposition titles, as voters are frequently “duped” into believing the label rather than the reality of the legislation.

We have seen this pattern of failure time and again, from the Safe Schools Act that actually put students in danger to the 2008 High-Speed Rail Act, which Democrats promised would be finished in a few short years.

Today, there are still no trains on the tracks, yet we continue to pay $1 billion a year to political appointees. We have passed bond after bond for education on the state level, only to see our schools continue to fail, and when 58 counties passed Proposition 38 to fix the Safe Schools Act, Democrat’s declined to fund it.

It is time to make California a great place to live again, rather than a place to leave, by voting out the “North Coast Poster Boys” who have led us into this crisis. Policies should never be judged by their promises, but by their tangible results, and the results for California are clear: failing schools, an inflated cost of living, skyrocketing energy prices, and rampant crime.

Under this leadership, the California Dream has been replaced by a continuous nightmare, and the failure of our state lies directly at the feet of the Democratic leadership and voters.

Mike Greer is the Republican Candidate for the California State Assembly. from Crescent City.