Proposition 1E. Mental Health Services Funding. Temporary Reallocation. Helps Balance State Budget. - recommend Yes
Prop 1E benefits from a more accurate and less misleading title than the very similar Prop 1D. Like Prop 1D, it's an utterly straightforward measure that would redirect funding from an area with legally mandated funding into the General Fund where it would be spent to cover fairly similar state needs. Specifically, this reallocates money that was generated by the 2004 Prop 63 tax on very high incomes, switching it from one batch of mental health programs to cover the costs of the state's Early and Period Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment Program (to the tune of reallocating $460 million or so, total).
Or, in other words, it's a $460 million cut in overall mental health spending in the state.
As I said in my overview of Prop 1D, I am not happy about a cut in these specific services, but I believe our state legislature should be able to reallocate funds more readily, and I do not appreciate the various workarounds people have attempted involving using propositions to mandate specific segments of state spending. With that in mind, I recommend "Yes" on this proposition with the understanding that when there are no specific state programs I want to see receive major cuts, cuts will necessarily have to come from good, quality state programs that help me and my fellow citizens.
You can get to the full text of the proposition and the legislative analysis here.