Prop. 1 Opponents Respond to AP Call on Election

- 'Embarrassing Squeaker' Is a Warning to Gov. & Legislators

- Opponents Foresee Years of Battles at the Local Level

SACRAMENTO, March 20 – The principal opponents of Proposition 1, responding to news that the Associated Press has called the election in favor of Prop. 1, issued the following statement today:

STATEMENT FROM CALIFORNIANS AGAINST PROPOSITION 1

Prop. 1 is not a 'huge' win for Gov. Newsom. It's an embarrassing squeaker of a victory that contains a strong warning.

Prop. 1 does not just ‘reform’ the mental health system, it reduces funding for mental health services by redirecting $1 billion per year. Prop. 1 could be a humanitarian disaster if it is not well managed. The incredibly narrow approval of Prop. 1 is the voters saying ‘do not let that happen.’

Prop. 1 was poorly designed because it relies on $10 billion in debt and stealing money from existing mental health services. The governor's campaign succeeded only by concealing the way this measure is paid for. They barely got away with it.

By cutting off services and reducing early intervention programs, Prop. 1 could have the perverse effect of increasing the number of people homeless and in need of services.

If Prop. 1 truly becomes law, it is the task of legislators at both the state and local level to forestall the damage we now face.

Counting ALL the Votes

Gov. Newsom only compounded his image problems by his actions in the post-election period. He paid to try to revive the votes of Democratic voters only. That's a terrible look for any governor, especially for Newsom, given his rhetoric about leadership and democracy.

Our group has been energized by the public's outrage, and we will continue efforts to make sure all ballots are counted before this election is certified.

It still is not too late for many people whose mail ballots were rejected to get them counted. We will continue to help.

Implementation Battles Await

What’s next is a long process of implementation of Prop. 1. Many battles await us in local governments, as the Prop. 1 knives come out and counties need to plan out their cuts to mental health care.

Some Prop. 1 supporters promoted the fantasy that cuts won’t be needed, that MHSA programs can just tap different insurance and funding streams to stay alive. Now it’s time that you all show how that’s going to work.

Otherwise we really will live to see the nightmare of dismantling the locally rooted prevention, early intervention and innovative support services that we have today for people with mental illness.

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