California Reading and Literacy Improvement and Public Library Construction and Renovation Bond Act of 2000
	Argument Against Proposition 14

Arguments on this page are the opinions of the authors and have not been checked for accuracy by any official agency.

Why does our Legislature squander our taxes on bloated, special interest programs, then borrow money to pay for the important things, like libraries?

Last year, the Legislature was faced with a budget surplus of over $4,300,000,000--more than twelve times the amount of this bond. The Legislature decided to spend the money on "pork" projects and increased welfare programs, including benefits for illegal aliens. State government spending increased by almost 10% in a single year! Now, with state revenues at an all-time high, they want to go into debt and spend your grandchildren's money on libraries. Only your "NO" vote on Proposition 14 can stop them.

Bonds are the most expensive way to build or renovate libraries. The interest and fees paid to bankers, lawyers and bureaucrats will nearly double the cost of these libraries. In other words, we can afford to build twice as many libraries by spending the tax money that the state has already collected. In desperate economic times, it might be necessary to borrow money for an important state project. But there is no excuse for borrowing money in good times. Taxpayers will be stuck paying for these bonds, and the interest on them, for three decades, even if the economy collapses.

With new computer technology and the growth of the Internet, the library improvements funded by this bond may be obsolete in five years. It does not make sense to spend our grandchildren's money on the "horse and buggy" technology that this bond would fund. We will still be paying for these bonds decades from now, even if the improvements are obsolete. Information can be retrieved and exchanged much more conveniently--and at a much lower cost--through the Internet. This bond is actually more expensive than offering FREE Internet service to every school child in California! Is this a wise use of our tax dollars?

Does your city or county have a surplus? Under the terms of this bond, local governments will not receive a penny of the bond money unless they provide 35% matching funds for each project. Unless you live in a wealthy community with surplus cash to pay for library renovation, you won't see a penny of this bond money, but you will still have to pay for it.

We are already on the hook for $36,900,000,000 for bonds that have been previously approved for other projects. Our state is so far in debt that we have the third worst credit rating in the entire country. With each new bond, we risk lowering our credit rating even further. We have to say "NO" to more borrowing. We have to demand that the Legislature pay for these important projects with the taxes we pay now, not the taxes that our grandchildren will pay later. The only way to do that is to say NO to Proposition 14.

RAY HAYNES
California Senator

LEWIS K. UHLER
President, The National Tax-Limitation Committee

CARL McGILL
Chairman, Black Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles County

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