Voter Beware: Read The Fine Print

Think congressional campaigns are dirty? Check out the high-stakes fights over state ballot initiatives. From Florida to California, voters are grappling with measures on issues ranging from gambling to health care. And the stakes are enormous--particularly for business. In California alone, the tobacco industry stands to win back as much as $365 million in annual cigarette sales if it can push through a measure easing smoking restrictions.

In another California initiative, business is up in arms over Proposition 186, which would create a single-payer, Canadian-style health-care system in the state--financed with $40 billion worth of new income, payroll, and cigarette taxes. There's more. Companies are worried by yet another Golden State initiative--this one, likely to pass. Proposition 187 would deny services to undocumented immigrants and require state employees, such as teachers, to report suspected illegals to authorities. Hewlett Packard Co., for one, has come out against the initiative. "We think it's a racist measure. It makes scapegoats out of women and children for California's economic problems," says a company spokesman.