At a glance: Proposition 1A

•Extend the sales tax hike by one year and the income tax and vehicle license fee hikes by two years.

•Create a "rainy day" fund (replacing the ineffective one created under Proposition 58). Three percent of each year's projected revenues would be deposited in the fund until the fund reaches 12.5 percent of that year's estimated revenues. Money from the fund could be spent only for specified purposes.

•"Unanticipated" revenues, defined as those that exceed expectations based on the previous 10 years of actual revenues, adjusted for inflation and population growth, would go to paying off debts and filling out the rainy day fund. It's not a spending cap, per se, but it would restrict the overspending that generally results from "extra" revenues.

•Give the governor power to make midyear spending cuts when revenues fall short of projections.

What are the objectives?

•To smooth out future budgets, avoiding the boom-and-bust cycle that results in overspending in good times, and cuts and tax hikes in bad times.

•To gain more general fund revenue from the two-year tax hike extensions.

What does it cost taxpayers?

•About $16 billion over two years (from 2011-13).

What's the effect on the general fund? On the deficit?

•No immediate effect. Extending the taxes would increase two years' revenues and decrease the deficit. The rainy-day fund could reduce future deficits. The spending restrictions could reduce future expenditures, thereby reducing future deficits. The measure's complexity makes it difficult to predict its effects.

Who's for it? Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican and Democratic legislative leaders, California Chamber of Commerce, California Teachers Association.

Who's against it? Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, California Federation of Teachers, California Faculty Association, California League of Women Voters, Health Access California.

Interesting tidbit: The governor could cut spending midyear in many areas, but not when it comes to collective bargaining agreements.