Feinstein, Boxer tell PTA to stop attacks on Brown Wyatt Buchanan Updated 10:22 a.m., Friday, August 17, 2012

Feinstein, Boxer tell PTA to stop attacks on Brown

Wyatt Buchanan

Updated 10:22 a.m., Friday, August 17, 2012

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Sacramento --

Top Democratic elected leaders in California are urging proponents of a ballot measure that rivals Gov. Jerry Brown's tax-raising Proposition 30 not to directly attack or refer to the governor's measure in their campaign.

In a letter sent Thursday to Carol Kocivar, the president of the California State PTA, U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer - along with the top two Democrats in the Legislature - called for a "positive campaign compact" between the rival campaigns.

The PTA is the leading proponent of Proposition 38, which would raise the income tax on a large number of Californians for 13 years and direct most of that money to public schools. Higher income earners would pay the most.

The initiative is bankrolled almost entirely by wealthy civil rights attorney Molly Munger, but the PTA is the public face of the campaign.

The Democrats said the campaign for Prop. 38 is becoming "increasingly negative" and said Munger has engaged in "personal attacks" against Brown and his measure, Prop. 30.

They wrote that Munger has referred to Brown as "untruthful," has called his proposition a "shell game" and "a tiny Band-Aid," and has said it would be "terrible for kids."

In the letter to Kocivar, the Democrats wrote, "As the leading supporter of Prop. 38, the PTA is the only organization in a position to make (the compact) happen. We are hopeful you feel a responsibility to prevent a negative campaign that will ultimately damage our schools."

The governor's campaign team immediately agreed to the compact and released the letter to the media.

Kocivar said she would respond in writing to the senators, along with Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and Assembly Speaker John Pérez, who also signed it.

"Responding directly to them instead of through the press is the best way to do it at this point," Kocivar said.

While she didn't respond to the allegations of a negative campaign, Prop. 38 spokesman Nathan Ballard said, "Prop 38 will improve California's public schools more than any other measure on the ballot, and we will not hesitate to point out that fact in a civil, respectful manner."

The leaders in the Legislature have been strong proponents of the governor's plan and had called on Munger to drop her efforts months ago. This written plea comes just one day after Brown formally kicked off the campaign for his ballot measure at a high school in Sacramento.

A spokesman for Prop. 38 responded to that event by noting that the school would receive more money under Prop. 38 than through the governor's proposal. The governor's political advisers have said they worry that a contentious campaign could lead to the defeat of both measures.

Speaking to reporters in San Jose on Thursday, Brown called the proposed compact "excellent." The governor then made an indirect reference to the competing initiative, telling reporters, "When it comes to the election, in terms of the schools, there is only one measure that can stop the $5.5 billion tax cut to schools and half a billion to colleges, and that's (Prop.) 30."

Those trigger cuts were included by the governor and Legislature in the state budget and are set to take place this winter if voters reject the governor's measure - even if Prop. 38 passes.

That's because revenue from Prop. 38 wouldn't begin flowing to schools until 2013, generating between $6 billion and $6.5 billion per year for schools, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office.

Even as Democrats attempt to stop the attacks on Prop. 30 from the left, conservative antitax groups are hitting it from the right and a committee opposing the measure already has formed.

Aaron McLear, a spokesman for the effort to defeat Prop. 30, said the letter from the Democrats shows that the claims made about the positive aspects of Prop. 30 can't withstand harsh scrutiny.

"It looks like the myths of Prop. 30 are beginning to crumble and the campaign is responding with a desperate gimmick," he said.

Wyatt Buchanan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail:

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Feinstein-Boxer-tell-PTA-to-stop-attacks-on-Brown-3794681.php#ixzz24ELEkywd