PROPS COULD RESHAPE STATE.

Byline: David M. Drucker Sacramento Bureau

With California long regarded as safely in Sen. John Kerry's column and few legislative seats up for grabs, voter interest has largely focused on 16 state ballot propositions with far-reaching implications and a Los Angeles County sales-tax increase for more police and sheriff's deputies.

Election officials predict a strong turnout of 73 percent of registered voters - a record 12 million Californians - and Kerry is expected to carry the state and its 55 electoral votes over President George W. Bush.

Much of the suspense in California will center on proposals to increase income and telephone taxes, add billions of dollars in state debt for medical research, force employers to provide health care, expand casino gambling and even force politicians of all political parties to run in the same primary election.

``This is pretty historic,'' said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a political analyst at the University of Southern California.

``I think people will focus on the issues that concern them, and are likely to research them and to cast their votes for or against those particular issues.''

Californians have not seen a ballot this laden with the potential for significant change since 1990, when voters approved term limits for state legislators, analysts say. Previous ballots have been more crowded and complicated, but few have offered voters the variety of stark choices on so many different issues - from scaling back the state's ``three strikes, you're out'' sentencing law to forcing felons and even some arrestees to give DNA samples.

``Clearly, if Prop. 72 passes that will have a major impact on health insurance in California,'' said Tim Hodson of the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento, pointing to the measure to require large and middle-size employers to provide health-care coverage for their workers.

``If either of the gaming initiatives pass they could potentially have a major impact. And Prop. 62 (an open primary measure) would fundamentally shake up the political structure.''

Tuesday's California ballot also features the U.S. Senate contest, with Democrat Sen. Barbara Boxer running far ahead in polls over former Republican Secretary of State Bill Jones.

The election involves all of California's House members and state Assembly members as well as half the state Senate, although redistricting has left most districts safely Democratic or Republican.

Many suburban cities also have a number of races for city councils, school boards, recreation districts, hospital boards, water agencies and other local agencies. Local judicial contests are also on the ballot.

Los Angeles County voters will consider Measure A, a proposal to increase the sales tax by one-half percent in Los Angeles County to hire up to 5,000 more police and sheriff's deputies and fund other law enforcement and public-safety programs. It would raise the sales tax in the county from 8.25 percent to 8.75 percent. To pass, it needs the approval of two-thirds of voters.

In the city of Los Angeles, voters will consider Measure O, a $500 million bond measure financed with a tax on property to fund projects that clean up polluted storm water and reduce bacteria in the runoff that flows from rivers to the ocean.

Campaigns on both sides of the 16 state propositions, trying to hammer their sales pitches through the clutter of the election season, have raised nearly $200 million to push their initiatives - a state record, according to the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation.

Starting with some of the most heatedly debated measures, here is a complete rundown of the 16 propositions on the Tuesday ballot:

--Proposition 72: Employers with 50 or more workers would be required to provide health coverage for their workers and, in some cases, dependents. Employers would have the option to pay into a state-administered health insurance program that would help cover the uninsured.

--Proposition 71: This constitutional amendment would establish the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which would immediately issue $3 billion in bonds to fund stem-cell research. Repayment of the bonds would cost taxpayers $6 billion over 30 years, or $200 million annually.

--Proposition 70: If passed, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's recently negotiated compacts with almost a dozen Indian gaming tribes would be superseded by new law eliminating virtually all regulations on Las Vegas-style casinos owned by American Indians for at least a period of 99 years. In exchange, tribes would pay the corporate tax rate of 8.84 percent on their gambling income.

--Proposition 68: This initiative would also undermine Schwarzenegger's Indian gaming compacts, as tribes would be forced to pay 25 percent of their earnings to county coffers - not the state - or lose their monopoly on Las Vegas-style gambling in California. Specifically, card clubs and race tracks in urban areas would be allowed to add slot machines.

--Proposition 67: Telephone bills would incur a 3 percent surcharge, or state tax, on all in-state calls, on top of existing fees, to fund emergency medical services. Roughly $500 million annually would be collected for distribution to emergency rooms and trauma centers.

--Proposition 66: This initiative would rewrite the ``three strikes, you're out'' law so that second and third strikes would have to be violent felonies for the convict to qualify for a sentence of 25 years to life. Inmates currently serving such sentences under ``three strikes'' would be resentenced if their third conviction was for a non-violent or non-serious crime as defined by this measure.

--Proposition 62: This measure would require candidates of all parties to run in a single ``open'' primary, allowing voters to cast ballots for candidates in other parties. The two candidates with the most votes would meet in a runoff, even if the two are members of the same party.

--Proposition 60: Meant to counteract Proposition 62 and placed on the ballot by the Legislature, this constitutional amendment would continue the current primary election system in which each party holds its own primary and nominates one candidate who runs against other parties' candidates in the general election.

--Proposition 69: Convicted felons, as well as individuals arrested for or charged with certain crimes, would be required to provide a sample of their DNA to the state for input into a state-run database. Estimates peg annual costs as high as $20 million once the program is up and running.

--Propositions 65 and 1A: Originally placed on the ballot by a coalition of local government officials who wanted to prevent state lawmakers from raiding municipal tax dollars to shore up state deficits, Proposition 65 has since been abandoned in favor of Proposition 1A, which would also protect local coffers but provides the state the flexibility to borrow city and county tax revenues in an emergency. It is the result of a compromise forged by Schwarzenegger, legislative leaders and local officials.

--Proposition 64: This measure would mandate that only the state attorney general and local public prosecutors could sue businesses for violating unfair business practices laws. The intent is to end lawsuits brought against companies by attorneys who have no proof of wrongdoing but want to exact financial settlements from business owners who are afraid they would not be able to afford a lengthy court battle.

--Proposition 63 would impose an extra 1 percent tax on taxable personal income over $1 million. The proceeds would finance an expansion of county mental health programs.

--Proposition 61: This measure authorizes the state to issue $750 million in general obligation bonds to pay for the construction and renovation of children's hospitals. Repayment of the bonds would cost taxpayers an estimated $1.5 billion over 30 years, or about $50 million a year.

--Proposition 60A: The passage of this initiative would require the state to use any money it earns from selling surplus property to pay off existing bonds.

--Proposition 59: This would amend the state constitution to provide Californians with the right to access government information. The right to get this information would extend to government meetings and documents written by government officials.

David M. Drucker, [phone]

david.drucker(at)dailybulletin.com

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