One odd thing about the anti-tax groups' opposition to Prop. 1A is that if they win, they will produce a result that the Democrats in the Legislature would have been happy to accomplish this year.
The Democrats were pushing for a tax increase. They wanted a permanent tax hike, but would have settled for one year, two years, three years, anything that Republicans were willing to vote for. In the end, a few Republicans agreed to a tax increase of up to four years, but only if the Democrats agreed to a spending limit that would have to go on the ballot because it is a constitutional amendment.. The deal was structured to allow the taxes to stay in effect for two years if the spending limit failed at the polls and for up to four years if the reform passes. But it's pretty clear that no Republican would have voted for even a single year of higher taxes without the spending limit.
Enter the anti-tax crowd. By dfeating Prop. 1A, they would block the one big thing the Republicans got in exchange for their tax vote. Opponents are focused on the final two years of the tax increases, but if they win, the end result is this: two years worth of tax hikes, and no spending limit.
And that is a deal that every Democrat, and probably not a single Republican, would have supported in the Legislature.
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