Some students at Cal State Long Beach are keeping a watchful eye on Proposition 30 as they packed the campus' University Student Union to vote Tuesday morning.

If approved, Prop 30, supported by Gov. Jerry Brown, would increase the state sales tax by a quarter-percent and raise income tax rates on earners making more than $250,000 to fund K-14 education in the state. But failure to pass the measure could trigger a $250 million cut to the CSU system and lead to tuition hikes at the 23 campuses.

SEE ALSO: Prop 30 And Prop 38: Dueling Plans To Save California's Schools

For Hamid Ala, a music major with cerebral palsy, system-wide cuts could make it a greater challenge to earn his diploma. The 33-year-old native of England, who immigrated to the U.S. when he was 12, said he has aspirations of becoming an opera singer.

Ala said he attended CSULB because of the university's effort to cater to students with disabilities by providing tutors and note-taking assistants. He voiced concern that a budget cut would limit some of the services he needs to graduate.

"I need a lot of help to pass my classes because of my disability," Ala said. "Here at Cal State Long Beach, they really try, but they can only do so much because of budget cuts, so it's affecting a lot of students."

Film production major Brian Accardi attended Arizona State University for one year, but is currently trying to enroll at CSULB because of the lower tuition.

Budget cuts have limited the number the students the university can enroll, in addition to closing admission for Spring 2013, meaning Accardi has to take open university courses in the meantime.

He painted a dire scenario if voters do not pass Prop 30.

"It would get worse because more money will get taken out of the schools, so they're going to let less students in," Accardi said. "Classroom sizes are going to be huge and it's going to be even harder to finish school and start working."

Wearing an American flag cape with a "Vote 2012" T-shirt, and stars and stripes painted on her face, English major Talia Ben-Ora made sure to do her part in getting out the vote.

"This is me trying to rev people up and get them excited about voting," Ben-Ora said.

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She mentioned the importance of voting on the presidential race and state ballot measures like Prop 30, but also cited Measure B as an issue that was "close to home" for her. Ben-Ora voted in favor of the county initiative that would require porn actors to wear condoms while shooting scenes.

"I don't want to face the possibility of meeting some super hot guy and finding out he's some porn star who has 17 STDs," she said.

Allison Gallagher, the Secretary of City Affairs for the university's student government, Associated Students Inc., said the campus-based polling place has seen strong turnout as students take time in between classes to vote. Gallagher said Prop 30 was a "deciding factor" for her to vote as well.

"I think it's important to exercise your right to vote. For most students, just the fact that tuition could go up is a big problem," Gallagher said.

A Field Poll conducted five days before the election revealed that support for Brown's tax measure has dipped below 50 percent, as 48 percent of likely voters supported it, while 38 percent said they would vote no. Polls close statewide at 8 p.m.

 

Read more Neon Tommy stories on the 2012 election.

Reach Senior Staff Reporter Danny Lee here. Follow him on Twitter here.