Truth-in-Advertising Measure Becomes 11th to Qualify for Fall Vote

A coalition of senior citizens, environmentalists and consumer activists has qualified a potentially far-ranging measure to establish new truth-in-advertising standards as the 11th initiative on the November ballot, Secretary of State March Fong Eu announced Monday.

The so-called “consumer’s right to know” measure includes provisions to require public listing of the worst nursing homes in California and to force businesses that sell stock in California to disclose whether they also do business with the apartheid government of South Africa.

Eu said that the Oakland-based coalition, Consumers United for Reform, gathered 422,196 valid signatures. The measure needed 372,178 to qualify. Besides the 11 initiatives, Eu said, voters will also face eight legislative bond measures on the November ballot.

The aim of the proposal is to require commercial advertisers “to give more disclosure to consumers,” Jim Rogers, president of the consumer coalition, said at a Capitol news conference.

Also backing the measure are Californians Against Waste, the Congress of California Seniors, and the California State Council of Urban Leagues. Rogers said he was unaware of any organized opposition.

Among other things the consumer proposal would require:

- Companies advertising such household items as paint or solvents to put instructions for proper disposal on their product labels.

- Insurance companies selling policies that supplement Medi-Care insurance to spell out more detailed information about the policies.

- Nursing homes to place in ads and contracts a state telephone number for consumers to call to determine how specific facilities care for patients.

- Ads for initiative campaigns to identify major sources of support.

Also on Monday, two state senators announced a plan to place two more issues before voters in November. Sens. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) and Wadie P. Deddeh (D-Chula Vista) began pushing proposals that would:

- Ask voters whether the Legislature should approve a gasoline tax increase of up to 15 cents a gallon for highway construction, road repairs and mass transit systems. The tax currently is 9 cents a gallon.

- Exempt any new gas taxes from the constitutional limit on state government spending.

To appear on the ballot, both measures must be approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor.

Gov. George Deukmejian has repeatedly said he would oppose an increase in the gasoline tax, and it remains to be seen whether Deddeh and Campbell can persuade the Legislature to approve the measures.

The Campbell-Deddeh proposal would provide alternative funding for highways if the $1-billion transportation bond measure that appeared on the June ballot does not pass. The vote on the measure was so close that its fate will not be known until the official vote count is complete, perhaps next week.

With as many as 50,000 ballots uncounted, the bond measure, which was strongly backed by Deukmejian, is losing by a slim margin. Final results will not be known until the middle of next week, according to the secretary of state’s office.

Deddeh said that the state needs to raise $1 billion a year for the next 10 to 15 years to relieve congestion on the state highways and local roads. “We’re not going to have a gas tax increase unless the voters indicate they are supportive of it,” Campbell said.