Gov. Brown addresses students at UCSC on Friday. Photo by Sal Ingram.
“I like standing under those redwoods because they’re soaring, and they’re strong. I don’t know how the hell they keep themselves going up. And that’s how I want to see the university—going up with new funding.”
Those were Gov. Jerry Brown’s opening words when he came to UC-Santa Cruz today (Oct. 26) to talk about Proposition 30, his plan to save public schools from massive funding cuts.
The plan, which has been called the “millionaire’s tax,” would increase taxes for Californians making over $250,000 a year, and raise sales tax a quarter of a cent. If voters don’t pass it, California would hand its college students major tuition hikes and cut K-12 schooling by 14 days.
Support was strong at first for the measure, but recently dipped below 50 percent in the polls, making Gov. Brown’s visit and push to get out the vote all the more urgent.
Behind Brown stood politicians of all backgrounds—student leaders, city Santa Cruz council candidate Richelle Noroyan, and state secretary of resources John Laird, a former Banana Slug himself.
California assemblymember Bill Monning, currently running for state senate, also spoke.
“Students, there is no vote you will make that is more directly linked to your self interest than your ‘yes’ vote on Proposition 30,” Monning told the crowd of a few hundred. “It will translate directly into what you have to pay in tuition next semester.”
