[EDITOR’S NOTE: The following letter is in response to a March 9 column by Henry Dubroff about Proposition 29, a proposed new state tax on cigarettes that would be used in part to fund cancer research.]

Dear Editor:

Although I greatly appreciate the efforts of the Pacific Coast Business Times, I couldn’t disagree more with your analysis of Proposition 29, the $735 million tax hike on the June 2012 ballot.Prop. 29 may look great on its face. After all, who doesn’t want to increase funding for cancer research? But, as with most politician-created initiatives, the devil is in the details.

First of all, this measure allows Californians’ hard-earned tax dollars to be spent outside the state, even outside the country. Shouldn’t we be trying to attract the best and the brightest here to study, create jobs and stimulate the economy, instead of exporting our money elsewhere?

What’s worse, this initiative circumvents voter mandates that require part of any tax increase to go toward funding public education. A new government bureaucracy with no oversight, and no money to solve our budget problems or fund education?

Sounds like the wrong cure for California’s chronic government ills! Vote no on Prop. 29.

Sincerely,

— Jean Ponek,
President, Central Coast Taxpayers Association