Californians not happy with state politicians as Special Election approaches

I came across this while writing an article on State Controller John Chiang's visit to San Bernardino.

A Field Poll released May 1 reports that a mere 14 percent of Californians are approve of the Legislature's job performance. It's the lowest rating Field Poll has ever recorded in surveys dating back to the early 1980s.

Turns out a decade of fiscal crises doesn't help one's popularity. Of course, Assembly and State Senate sdistricts are extremely gerrymandered, so a lot of these men and women probably won't have to worry about reelection.

And the governor? Arnold Schwarzenegger weighs in with an approval rating of 33 percent. It's a also record low for the man who's counting on yet another Special Election to solve California's perennial budget deficits.

"The 33% approval rating is lowest assessment that voters have given the Governor in twenty-three separate Field Poll measures taken since his election in late 2003. Schwarzenegger's ratings are now lower than those he received in the fall of 2005, immediately before voters rejected each of four ballot measures the governor placed on that year's special election," Field Poll reports.

California politicos have another problem. The conventional wisdom has it that voters will reject the ballot measures that are up for a vote on May 19. The package includes Prop. 1A, which would extend tax hikes and is also intended to force the state to put more money into a "rainy day fund." Another part of the package is Prop. 1C, which lets state officials borrow a projected $5 billion against California Lottery revenues.

Schwarzenegger and other proponents of the measures say rejection of the measures will result in deep budget cuts. The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported that the governor threatened to eliminate 1,700 state firefighting positions if the propositions fail.