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FILMMAKER ROB REINER WINS SUPPORT FROM CITY OF LOS ANGELES MAYOR RICHARD RIORDAN Reiner is Chair of the California Children and Families Initiative, a plan to trigger the nation's most integrated and comprehensive children's services program ever FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mike Roosl Maryann Maloney April 30, 1998 (213) 627-5140 LOS ANGELES - Rob Reiner, filmmaker and Chair of the California Children and Families Initiative, and former Republican U.S. Congressman and Co-Chair Mike Huffington today enthusiastically announced that City of Los Angeles Mayor Richard J. Riordan, a proven advocate and leader for children, wholeheartedly endorsed the initiative. They were joined by Beth Lowe, Past President and Board Member, and Mary Emmons, Chief Executive Officer of Children's Institute International, a Los Angeles based non-profit child welfare agency, who hailed their sWpport and illustrated the dramatic positive impact the initiative will have on the funding and delivery of children's services -- a growing feat they daily face. "Throughout his career as an enterprising entrepreneur, philanthropist and distinguished Mayor, Mayor Riordan has established himself as a true defender of children," said Reiner. "Every city in America should follow Mayor Riordan's lead to make children a top priority so that every child will grow up healthy, able to learn in school and succeed in life. Mayor Riordan - your endorsement today guarantees our success in California and then - the nation.° The California Children and Families Initiative asks voters to support an additional fifty cents a pack tax on cigarettes as a way to generate $700 million a year - every year - for programs that target children prenatally to age five to prepare them to be healthy, emotionally well-developed, and ready for school. The initiative triggers the availability of existing federal matching dollars which will bring approximately $1.4 billion to California every year for early childhood services programs. Mayor Riordan is currently co-chair of the "95-5" initiative (Proposition 223) that will ensure that 95 cents of every education dollar goes to schools. In 1995, he created the Commission for Children, Youth and Their Families, a new city department devoted solely to advise the Mayor and City Council on children's issues. "I am proud to endorse the California Children and Families Initiative for one simple reason: it puts children first,° said Riordan. "Every child who comes into this world deserves access to a happy, healthy school environment where they can learn to compete in the classroom and later in life. By working together, Californians will ensure that every child in our state ultimately becomes a contributing member of society." The initiative will help children and families by providing a variety of health and social service resources. Additionally, it creates a partnership with the state to work in harmony with the 58 counties. It will also for the first time ever allow agencies to collaborate to create a seamless system to look at children with severe needs to provide holistic comprehensive and integrated services. TCAL0476946

I am ccnstantly amazed by the neecs ra, ccntront t'ne chlo-en and farrilies we serve." said Lowe "Children come to us who are victims of ab~se and neglect, domestic violence, abandonment, and the explos on of alcohol and drug use in the home. The California Children and Families Initiative would provide new and much-needed funds throughout Califor iia to support the services made available to our children and families. Should these children deserve any less? I certainly con't believe so." The California Children and Families Initiat,ve will teach women who are pregnant about the negative effects of smoking while pregnant. It will also provide smoking cessation assistance to pregnant women and parents of young children who want to quit smoking. According to the American. Lung Association, "Cigarette smoking during pregnancy can cause serious health problems to an unborn child. Smoking during pregnancy has been linked to premature labor, breathing problems and fatal illness among infants." It's been ten years since California voters overwhelmingly approved a 25 cents a pack tax on cigarettes to fund anti-smoking education programs. The current tax on California cigarettes is 37 cents a pack. Even with the additional 50 cents a pack tax on California cigarettes, California will still not have the highest state tobacco tax- "The cigarette tax parallels the strong interest across the country in reducing youth smoking," said Huffington. "Research has demonstrated that price increases reduces youth access, Californians benefit twice from this initiative - once from the early childhood services provided by the revenue generated by the initiative and once again from the tobacco tax that prices cigarettes out of the reach of our youth." The California Children and Families Initiative has also been endorsed by C. Everett Koop, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Pro Tem John Burton, Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor Willie Brown, Jr., California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the American Lung Association of California and the American Cancer Society, California Division. TCAL0476947