OAKLAND TRIBUNE
Sunday, Oct. 20, 2002

OP-ED

Prop. 47 merits support in spite of economy, debt

CALIFORNIANS should be concerned about the rush to earmark state revenue for special purposes, whether it's education, housing, highways or water.

An ever-dwindling portion of our state budget is available for discretionary uses. As much as 90 percent, according to state officials, is already committed for purposes and projects mandated by initiatives, state and federal laws and courts. How it will be spent is determined long before it flows into the state treasury.

Yet, additional demands for slices of the pecuniary pie keep eating away at what's left, as we scramble to keep up with a constant influx of new Californians and rebuild a crumbling infrastructure that was ignored for more than 20 years.

It is not a reassuring economic picture. And, Election Day 2002 could be the biggest one-day run -- or raid -- on the California general fund ever.

Three of the seven state ballot measures on the Nov. 5 election ask voters to approve the sale of general obligation bonds totaling $18.6 billion. And, two other measures want voters to commit another $1.6 billion a year to special purposes. Together they almost double California's bonded indebtedness of $26 billion.

State Treasurer Phil Angelides says low interest rates make this an ideal time to borrow money. His report on state indebtedness indicates that we can approve all three bond measures and still end up under the 5 percent debt ceiling recommended by credit analysts. But do we want to saddle the state -- and ourselves as taxpayers -- with another $50 billion in long-term debt?

The cost of financing the three bond measures alone over 30 years doubles the payback on bonds. We'd be paying $37.8 billion for $18.6 billion in usable dollars. Frankly, we don't think Californians should approve all the money requests.

If we approve one, however, it should probably be Prop. 47, a $13.05 billion bond to construct, modernize and repair schools from the elementary through university levels. It's the largest bond issue yet put on a California ballot and probably the biggest state measure anywhere ever. Yet, it's an investment in our future that we can't afford to delay.

It may seem like a glass of half-full optimism, but if we're going to remain competitive economically and keep California at the forefront of progress and change, passing Prop. 47 is something we must do. Consider:

One-third of our children attend overcrowded schools in need of modernization. Ours are the second most crowded classrooms in America.

Fifty-five percent of our schools are more than 30 years old.

46,000 new classrooms are needed to offset the influx of new students into California in the next five years.

More than half of the labs, science and computer facilities in the California State University system are outdated, over 28 years old.

State community colleges and universities will be inundated with 700,000 new students by 2010.

Around 2,000 classrooms in local districts await matching funds from the state to be built or renovated. One estimate says passing Prop. 47 creates more than 200,000 jobs.

Meanwhile Bay Area classrooms overflow with students at every level from elementary schools to the University of California at Berkeley.

Besides buildings, proceeds from the bonds could be used for such basic improvements as installing new heating systems and air conditioning in Oakland schools and rewiring Castro Valley classrooms.

Furnaces in some Oakland schools reportedly take until Wednesday to properly reheat buildings after being turned off the prior Friday. And, the wiring in some Castro Valley classrooms is so archaic that teachers check with peers in adjacent rooms to see if it's OK before plugging in additional electrical devices.

That should be unacceptable for the biggest state in our union and sixth largest economy in the world.

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