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Proposition 30 Message from UC-AFT President Bob Samuels

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Dear Member of UC-AFT,

Proposition 30, the Schools and Local Public Safety Protection Act, is on the November 6 ballot. If it passes, it will raise $9 billion in the first year, and $6 billion a year for six years after that, for public education and other services. If Prop 30 does not pass, the University of California budget will be cut by $375 million, and this reduction will most likely cause layoffs, benefit reductions, salary freezes, and a tuition increase of over 20%.

Prop 30 would increase income tax rates on individual incomes in excess of a quarter million dollars per year, and modestly increase the state sales tax by ¼ cent, to provide desperately needed revenues to rebuild our schools and services. Moreover, it is a progressive tax measure, with 90% of the revenues coming from wealthy taxpayers, and the other 10% from the small increase in the state sales tax. In short, Prop 30 makes the wealthy pay their fair share to support the future of California.

Without additional tax revenue, California will continue its slide from the most educated to the least educated state in the nation. In the UC system, we may see the loss of librarians and lecturers and the deterioration of educational quality throughout all levels of public education in California.  In fact, state budget cuts to public education funding, totaling $20 billion over the past four years, have taken a terrible toll on our ability to deliver the education our students need and deserve.  

If you are not yet registered to vote, you can simply go online and register in a few easy steps by going to: https://rtv.sos.ca.gov/elections/register-to-vote/

Please see these talking points for your campus work in support of Proposition 30.

Bob Samuels, President

University Council-American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT)