Editorials:
So Far Every California Newspaper Has Editorialized
Against Prop 72
"Chasing businesses out of the state and putting low-income employees out of work isn't the way to fix the system. Californians should vote no on Proposition 72."
Los Angeles Times
"Proposition 72 takes the same broken system and adds new costs and new mandates on top of it. Worse, it gives a dangerous new
incentive for growing companies to leave the state..."
Sacramento Bee
"Proposition 72, a referendum on the mandate rushed through the California Legislature in the final days of a session and signed into
law by Gov. Gray Davis just before he was recalled last year, represents a seriously flawed attempt at health-care reform. It has all
the makings of a disaster. It introduces an enormous new mandate on small and medium-sized businesses. It does nothing to directly
address the biggest underlying cause of the health-care crisis: skyrocketing premiums.
And for its burden on business..."
San Francisco Chronicle
"Proposition 72 isn't the answer."
San Jose Mercury News
"California already is well known as a hostile environment for business. Approval of Proposition 72 would make matters much worse.
Most of the ballot decisions in November deserve some thoughtful consideration, but not 72. This one deserves only one conclusion.
It's 'no.'"
Long Beach Press Telegram
"Although our state is shimmying toward a health-care crisis because of ever increasing costs, shifting the burden of that crisis
squarely onto the backs of the state's business community could reap disastrous results."
Oakland Tribune
"There are an estimated 6 million uninsured Californians. At best, Proposition 72 will cover 1 million of them. It is irrational to threaten
the existing employment base and add to the number of uninsured, unemployed and under-employed Californians."
Bakersfield Californian
"California's finances finally are getting healthy. What the state doesn't need now is to inject into the body political fiscal bacillus."
Orange County Register
"Proposition 72, if passed, would continue to put more burdens on California employers. It ultimately would serve to drive businesses
from state, deter new ones from setting up shop here and cause the loss of jobs. How much more can California businesses take?"
Santa Barbara News-Press
"...The downsides of Proposition 72 outweigh its benefits."
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
"The bottom line: Some businesses will simply shut their doors, and there goes a job and tax generator at a time when this state's
financial health appears to be on the mend. If a business doesn't close, it may decide that this is the final straw in a state that's
already rightly perceived as being hostile to business and move its operations to friendlier state or even offshore."
San Luis Obispo Tribune
"...In addition to the fact that it will cost thousands of jobs because business and schools simply can't afford it, is that the state of
California government is a mess, and makes a mess of virtually every institution over which it has control."
Sonoma Index Tribune
"Proposition 72 will tax California employers and employees more than $7 billion to create a government-run healthcare scheme
operated by a immense new bureaucracy. There are no cost controls, no guarantee of choice of health plan or doctor or hospital for
workers and their families."
Vacaville Reporter
"Prop 72 moves a large portion of healthcare into the public sector, and the financial impact on the state is of an unknown, but
significant magnitude that likely would stifle the economic growth. There are other ways there are other ways to expand healthcare
coverage."
Victorville Daily Press
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