by Melanie Mason | L.A. Times | http://lat.ms/1R00kZv
Feb 12, 2016 - Sacramento :: Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday came out against
a $9-billion school bond measure that will go before voters in November,
erecting a political hurdle for advocates of new spending on school
construction.
"I am against the developers' $9-billion bond,"
Brown said in a statement to The Times. "It's a blunderbuss effort that
promotes sprawl and squanders money that would be far better spent in
low-income communities."
Brown has hinted in the past at his displeasure with the
ballot proposal.
When he unveiled his budget plan last month, the governor
said the bond measure would not change the state program that determines how
school facilities are built and maintained. That process prioritizes districts
that submit early applications for projects — which Brown said favors affluent
districts over cash-strapped ones.
"The Legislature could do a better job than the
developers who put that one together," Brown said at the time.
But lawmakers' efforts to craft a smaller bond have
stagnated.
Representatives for Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los
Angeles) and Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) confirmed that
legislators will not be voting on an alternative measure in time to meet state
election deadlines for the June primary ballot.
Outright opposition from Brown could prove politically
damaging for the larger proposal. The governor notches high marks from Californians:
60% of registered voters approve of his job performance, according to a January
poll by the Public Policy Institute of California.
But the $9-billion bond has racked up its own cadre of
influential supporters, including the California Chamber of Commerce, the State
Building and Construction Trades Council of California and Tom Torlakson, the
superintendent of public instruction. Nearly a dozen legislators also have
endorsed the measure.
Under the proposal sponsored by the Coalition for Adequate School
Housing, a group promoting new construction, and the California Building
Industry Assn., most of the money would go toward building and upgrading K-12
facilities.
The proposal includes $2 billion for community college
projects.
"California is facing at least $20 billion in projected
school facilities needs over the next decade, and we have sponsored this bond
to make sure school districts can continue to partner with the state to create
quality learning environments for all students," David Walrath of the
Coalition for Adequate School Housing said in a statement.
"Our measure will continue this important school bond
program that has been supported by the past three governors, and which our
supporters — including the business community, school districts, elected
officials from both sides of the aisle and labor — all agree is needed to
ensure California's students have modern and safe classrooms," he said.
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