Multiple Bonds May Put Undue Strain on State’s Credit Rating
By HOWARD FINE
Staff Reporter
State legislators are considering placing four multibillion-dollar propositions on the November ballot. If all four make it, voters will face a record $23 billion in bond measures.
But there’s growing concern that these propositions could impact the state’s creditworthiness: if all four were to be approved, they would nearly double the state’s outstanding bond debt.
“Twenty three billion dollars in debt is a pretty big pill to swallow,” said Fred Main, senior vice president of the California Chamber of Commerce.
Topping the list is a $12 billion to $13 billion proposition to fund the building of new school facilities. Gov. Gray Davis, Sen. President John Burton, D-San Francisco, and state Treasurer Phil Angelides are leading the push for the measure, which last week passed the Assembly on a 71-6 vote.
Burton also has introduced a $2.1 billion proposition to boost funding for various affordable housing projects; it has cleared the state Senate and is now in the Assembly.
Earlier this month, state Sen. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, unveiled a $6 billion bond measure to fund the backbone of a high-speed rail system from Los Angeles to San Jose.
That same week, state Sen. Maurice Johannessen, R-Redding, introduced a $2.95 billion water bond to fund a variety of water infrastructure and related security projects.
Other, smaller bond measures being considered, include $100 million for veterans programs.
In order for the Legislature to place a bond proposition on the ballot, both houses must approve it with a two-thirds majority and the governor must sign it.
As of last week, a consensus was building in Sacramento that there was room in the state’s debt capacity for $15 billion in additional bond debt.
The most likely bonds to be held are the high-speed rail and water bonds. State Treasurer Phil Angelides indicated as much in a March 18 letter to state Sen. Dede Alpert, who is chairing the Legislature’s joint conference committee on the education bond.
In the letter, Angelides says his office has determined that $13 billion is the maximum amount that should be authorized for the education bond, considering that the $2.1 billion housing bond would likely be on the same ballot. That total of $15.1 billion would keep the state within its desired debt ceiling of 5 percent.
