From this morning’s roundup:

Proceeds of California’s Prop 63 “millionaire’s tax” were supposedly earmarked for mental health. Here’s where the dollars have actually been spent [AP]

To which wfjag comments:

Where has the Prop 63 money to help people with mental illnesses gone?

The state has approved spending on acupuncture, art and drama classes, sweat lodges for American Indians, parenting courses for Spanish-speakers and massage chairs for students in Southern California. More than two dozen counties have spent money on anti-bullying programs and several have used it to fund horseback riding therapy, including a $944,843 program in Kings County.

Fresno County spent $315,000 on gardens for Hmong refugees. In San Francisco, Proposition 63 money pays for city workers with mental illness in their families to attend lunchtime yoga classes.

As a group, people with mental and emotional disabilities don’t tend to vote in large numbers. However, city workers, teachers and staff, and folks receiving money for ego-stroking programs do tend to turn out and vote for those who give them such money. So this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Filed under: California