On Friday, September 22, 2006 on PBS (check local listings for times), NOW will be covering items of critical importance to the upcoming elections. In the voting booth this fall, voters in states across the country will find ballot initiatives with titles like "Taxpayers' Bill of Rights" and "SOS - Stop Over Spending."
The aim is to slash state spending, including deep cuts in health care, education, and other social services. But are these local initiatives really "home" grown? NOW investigates how one wealthy New Yorker is secretly providing major funding for these and other ballot measures way outside his neighborhood, in states across the country. NOW also takes a look at the questionable tactics used to put these issues on your ballot.
Starting this Friday, the NOW website at www.pbs.org/now will feature a state-by-state tool that will allow users to see the ballot initiatives they'll be facing in November and check how their states score on a campaign finance report card.
