CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / BALLOT MEASURES : Mix-Up Fuels Confusion for Gas Tax Proponents

A disagreement over strategy forced embarrassed leaders of the campaign to pass a gasoline tax increase to retract press notices Tuesday that had billed a speech by Gov. George Deukmejian as a hard-hitting attack against the tactics used by anti-tax groups.

Instead, consultants for the campaign to pass Propositions 111 and 108 sheepishly conceded minutes before Deukmejian’s address to the Labor and Business Alliance that the governor would be leveling no criticism at groups that have been pushing for free time on television and radio stations to air anti-tax ads.

“We just blew it,” said Don Schrack, press secretary for the Yes on 111 and 108 campaign. “If we’re victorious and we can look back on a six-month campaign and this is the biggest mistake we’ve made, I guess we’re going to be very happy.”

The foul-up is expected to have little effect on the outcome of either measure on the June 5 primary ballot. However, it illustrates the philosophical differences within the campaign on how to handle a potentially damaging last-minute onslaught from anti-tax forces.

Proposition 111 is considered a double whammy by many anti-tax groups because it modifies the state spending limit and sparks a 9-cent-per-gallon gas tax increase. Proposition 108 authorizes $1 billion in bonds to finance mass transit. In recent weeks, several groups have produced low-budget television and radio advertisements against the two proposals and asked stations out of “fairness” to run them without charge.

Campaign strategists, who canceled satellite distribution of the governor’s speech at the last moment, clearly wanted Deukmejian to publicly demand that television and radio stations refuse to air the advertisements because of “misleading” statements. Instead, the governor gave his standard promotional speech in favor of the gas tax measure.

The proponents objected to portions of the ads that refer to the tax increase proposal as the biggest in the state’s history and indicate that the passage of the spending limit modifications would trigger $53 billion in additional spending by state government over the next decade.

“The governor will demand the small group of opponents to Propositions 111 and 108 immediately halt the group’s anti-111 radio and television advertising campaign, which reflects total disregard for truth and for California voters,” the campaign said in the retracted press notice.

But Deukmejian, who is chairman of the campaign to pass the propositions, apparently feared that a high-profile attack could translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars in free publicity for the opposition.

“Probably somebody said, ‘Don’t do that because it’s going to cause a lot of press,’ ” mused Ted Costa, a long-time ally of the late Paul Gann, the anti-tax crusader who authored the current spending limit. Costa and Tom Rogers, a leader of anti-tax forces in Orange County, authored the advertisements.

Susan Trowbridge, Deukmejian’s deputy press secretary, said, “Right now, the governor is trying to get out the accurate information on 111 and 108. He clearly sees it as his position to get out the right information.”

Without mentioning the anti-tax groups or their advertisements, Deukmejian told reporters after his address that the proposals would not authorize any tax increases other than the gas tax hike.

He said his office had not been aware of the press notice sent out by the campaign and blamed it on a “communications gap.”