California Proposition 10 (1998) is an initiative

Initiative

In political science, an initiative is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote...

 state constitutional amendment

State constitution (United States)

In the United States, each state has its own constitution.Usually, they are longer than the 7,500-word federal Constitution and are more detailed regarding the day-to-day relationships between government and the people. The shortest is the Constitution of Vermont, adopted in 1793 and currently...

 that appeared in the 1998 California General Election. The official name of this amendment is “The Children and Families First Act.” This amendment put a $.50 tax on cigarettes, and even up to $1 on other tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

 products such as chewing tobacco and cigars. The revenue

Revenue

In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....

 from this tax

Tax

To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...

 would go to funding early childhood education in California. The tax went into effect January 1, 1999.

History

In 1997, Rob Reiner

Rob Reiner

Robert "Rob" Reiner is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and political activist.As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence as Archie and Edith Bunker's son-in-law, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, on All in the Family. That role earned him two Emmy Awards during the 1970s...

, an actor and director and longtime child advocate, initiated the “I Am Your Child” public awareness campaign to make the welfare of children ages zero to three years a priority for the nation, but without greater measures he felt that the issue would not be addressed properly. Reiner gained support from the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, and the Lung Cancer Association, all three organizations wanting to reduce the usage of tobacco, to help put Proposition 10 on the California general election ballot in 1998. Rob Reiner recruited Michael Huffington

Michael Huffington

Michael Huffington is an American politician, bisexual activist, and film producer. He was a member of the Republican Party, and a member of the United States House of Representatives for one term, 1993–1995, from California...

 to join him as co-chairman of the campaign. Others that were lined up in support for this proposition were director Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...

, U.S. Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer

Barbara Boxer

Barbara Levy Boxer is the junior United States Senator from California . A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives ....

, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan

Richard Riordan

Richard J. Riordan is a Republican politician from California, U.S.A. who served as the California Secretary for Education from 2003–2005 and as the 39th Mayor of Los Angeles, California from 1993–2001...

, the California Teachers Association

California Teachers Association

The California Teachers Association , initially established in 1863 as the California Educational Society, is by far the largest teachers' union in the state of California. It is considered by many to be the most powerful union in California...

, and the California Nurses Association.

This proposition was pushed through because of the growing effort to create a better education and child care for children ages zero to three years. In 1994, Carnegie Corporations issued a report called ‘’”Starting Points: Meeting the needs of our Youngest Children.”’’ This report gave an overall look at the poor education and lack of quality care provided to young children around the country. People began to confront this problem of the connection between the development of children and that quality of care received.

There was an intense opposition to the proposition by the tobacco industry but even with the huge opposing campaign the proposition still passed with just over fifty percent of the California vote. In March 2000 California voters were asked to repeal but there was a seventy percent opposition which reflected a strong anti-tobacco bias and support of early childhood education.

Fiscal Impact

The fiscal

Finance

"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...

 impact of this amendment led to almost a double increase of revenue for the state, going from about $400 million up to $750 million the following years. This amendment reduced Proposition 99, health care and resources program revenue from about $18 million to about $7 million the following years. In the state general fund and the county generals funds the revenue for both about doubled. This also brought about a potential savings for many programs in relation to education and health care along with many other programs.

Implementation

The Tobacco Tax helped to create several things that would benefit the community of families with children under the age of 6. These programs included a statewide commission that would provide information to families and the rest of the public about and a plan to establish better quality child care throughout the state of California. There have also been individual county commissions established for each of the 58 counties in California. These county commissions will allow each of the programs established through Proposition 10 to better meet the needs of the individual communities. The tax also allowed for a trust fund for the money from the tax so that the money could be distributed among the county commissions and applied to the programs.

These programs provide funding for community health care, better quality child care and advanced education programs for families. Each program will be customized to fit the needs of the community that it is serving. A statewide campaign was also set up to emphasize the importance of providing excellent child care and education environment for early childhood development. The programs also provide assistance to pregnant women and parents of young children who are trying to quit smoking.

The main services provided to the families of California include education to inform parents about the importance of a nurturing environment starting from a young age. There are services that provide caregivers and parents with the skills to provide adequate nurture for children. Nutrition services are provided for prenatal and postnatal maternal and for the infancy stage. There are also programs that provide other child development related services, health care and social services not provided but other major programs. There are services to that provide education and training about how to avoid using tobacco products, alcoholic beverages and other harmful drugs during pregnancy. Along with these services there is also a program that assists in preventing domestic violence

Domestic violence

Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...

, and also provides treatment for those who have already been abused in the home.

These services are not restricted by income, residency, race, or other common deciding factors, but are available to anyone who has children from the pre-natal stage to the age of five. These services are provided strictly to allow each child to have a strong start to life in nurturing environments that will allow them to succeed later in life.

First 5 California

First 5 California Commission was the commission established Proposition 10, in January 1999. Another name for this program is the California Children and Families Commission. First 5 offers services such as health care, child care and other programs to the families of California. First 5 have about eight main goals that they strive to address. These goals are school readiness, making sure that all kids have a good transition into elementary school, quality child care in the early years so that each child receives the proper care from child care facilities, emphasis on nutrition and exercise to encourage healthy life styles, health coverage for children to ensure their vaccinations and other health needs are met starting young, dental care so that children maintain a healthy smile and even avoid things such as speech impairments, providing quality pre-schools for good brain stimulation, care for children with special needs, and even the migrant farm workers children. All of these goals have been established as some of the leading contributors to a successful life. Not only does California have a state commission but each of the fifty eight counties of the state has their own branch of the commission to better suit the needs of the local communities.