SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Gov. Gavin Newsom is flexing his campaign muscles and using some of his considerable political capital to help defeat a controversial California ballot measure, opposing many within his own political party.
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As first reported exclusively by KCBS Radio, Newsom is starring in a just-released TV commercial urging Californians to vote 'no' on Proposition 30, an initiative in the upcoming November election which would raise income taxes on anyone making over $2 million a year, with the revenue going to subsidize more electric vehicles and infrastructure, such as charging stations and wildfire prevention and response.
In the advertisement, Newsom makes a direct appeal to reject the initiative, calling it a "Trojan horse," funded almost entirely by Lyft for its own benefit.
"Fellow Californians, I need to warn you about Proposition 30, one company's cynical scheme to grab a huge taxpayer funded subsidy," Newsom said in the ad. "Don't be fooled, Prop. 30 is being advertised as a climate initiative, but in reality it is being devised by a single corporation to funnel state income taxes to better benefit their company."
"Put simply, Prop. 30 is a Trojan horse that puts corporate welfare above the fiscal welfare of our entire state."
This will be the only ballot measure campaign spot Newsom will appear in, either for or against.
"It is disappointing that the Governor would side with the Californian Republican Party and a handful of San Francisco billionaires who would rather kids breathe toxic, polluted air than pay their fair share." The "Yes on 30" campaign told the Associated Press in response to the governor's ad.
Various environmental groups, progressive members of the California delegation and the California Democratic Party itself have all come out in support of Prop. 30. Early polling also suggested that voters are strongly in favor of the measure.
"If you look at the polling that’s out there, it's not that the measure is really that popular. Any measure that says 'Hey we’re going to tax rich people, and we’re going to save the climate.' of course that’s going to test positively," Matt Rodriguez, a veteran Democratic campaign strategist who's helping to lead the campaign against Proposition 30, told KCBS Radio's "State of California" on Tuesday. "We have looked at this issue very, very closely, and that fact is once voters look under the hood, and realize that Lyft is funding almost the entire measure, and why they’re doing it, support completely collapses. The reason why the governor is doing this is there is no better spokesman to make that case than Gov. Newsom."
A representative from the "Yes On 30" campaign will join KCBS Radio’s State of California at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday to further discuss the measure.
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