Molly Munger, the wealthy tax proponent whose initiative has frustrated Gov. Jerry Brown, has launched a second ad portraying her measure as an outsider effort.
With upbeat music and a young girl as narrator, the 30-second "Our Children, Our Future" ad attacks Brown's plan without ever referencing it. Munger's initiative would hike income taxes on all but the poorest residents along a sliding scale to raise $10 billion annually.
Of efforts to fix schools, the ad says, "We've waited years for the politicians to do it. Now, we can do it ourselves. Our Children, Our Future sends every K-12 dollar straight to our schools, not to Sacramento."
Munger has contributed $6 million so far to the campaign, which must gather 504,760 signatures to place the initiative on the November ballot. The campaign said the $1.2 million ad buy will air on broadcast and cable stations in the Bay Area and Los Angeles.
Spokesman Nathan Ballard said the campaign is "on track" to qualify its measure.
"The environment out there is crowded with the governor's measure and various other measures that are being shopped around," Ballard said. "There's quite a bit of noise, and we believe this ad will cut through the noise."
While the campaign ad asserts that every K-12 dollar goes to schools rather than Sacramento, the initiative allows about $3 billion annually to help the state budget for four years. Under the initiative, the money is supposed to pay down school bond debt. Proponents added that provision late in the initiative process to satisfy concerns that Munger's proposal did nothing for the state budget.
By reducing school bond debt, the measure frees up $3 billion in other state tax dollars to pay for things like prisons, universities and health and welfare programs, which are appropriated in Sacramento.
Brown strategist Steve Glazer responded on Twitter: "The Munger cash cow moos."
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