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| Title and Summary | Analysis | Arguments and Rebuttals | Text of Proposed Law |
PROP 1B |
HIGHWAY SAFETY, TRAFFIC REDUCTION, AIR QUALITY, AND PORT SECURITY BOND ACT OF 2006.  |
| ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF PROPOSITION 1B | ARGUMENT AGAINST PROPOSITION 1B |
YES ON PROPOSITION 1B: BUILD NEW ROADS AND HIGHWAYS NOW California has the most congested highways in the nation—we spend 500,000 hours stuck in traffic every day. It’s clear that the time to rebuild California’s roads, highways, and transportation systems is now. Proposition 1B puts backlogged transportation projects on the fast track, reducing congestion and improving highway safety. While Prop. 1A protects the gas tax funds we already pay at the pump, Prop. 1B is just as important because it provides funding now to jump-start repairs of our aging highways and to start building the transportation projects we know we’ll need in the future. YES ON 1B IMPROVES SAFETY, REDUCES CONGESTION, AND EXPANDS PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION Proposition 1B will fund projects in every corner of the state. Prop. 1B invests in:
YES ON 1B WILL REDUCE AIR POLLUTION AND IMPROVE AIR QUALITY Prop. 1B includes funding to reduce air pollution by replacing old polluting school buses, expanding mass transit, and expanding carpool and HOV lanes. And, by reducing congestion on our freeways and roads, Prop. 1B will also help reduce car emissions—one of the leading sources of air pollution.YES ON 1B: STRICT ACCOUNTABILITY AND NO NEW TAXES • Prop. 1B includes important accountability measures like annual audits and reports to ensure funds are spent on intended projects.• Prop. 1B lets us begin building roads now and pay for them as we use them—with current tax revenues and without raising taxes. It is like a mortgage on a house that lets you live in your home while you pay for it. YES ON 1B: PART OF A LONG-TERM PLAN TO REBUILD CALIFORNIA Proposition 1B is part of the Rebuild California Plan, which uses the taxes we’re already paying to build the roads, housing, schools, and water systems we need to sustain our economy and our quality of life for the long term. REBUILD CALIFORNIA: YES ON 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E California’s population will reach 50 million in the next 20 years—twice what our current infrastructure was designed for—and it can’t be rebuilt overnight. That’s why we’ve got to start now. To learn more about how this infrastructure plan will benefit you and your community, visit www.ReadForYourself.org. YES ON 1B: SAFER ROADS, LESS POLLUTION, AND REDUCED TRAFFIC CONGESTION MARIAN BERGESON, Chair
We’ve all heard, “some things are too good to be true.” The argument in support of Proposition 1B is clearly one of those times. Instead of envisioning a home mortgage being paid for while you live in it, as the proponents would have you imagine, envision instead drowning in a sea of credit card debt. That’s where California is headed. We all want better roads and less traffic congestion. However, if the Legislature turned its attention to streamlining construction projects and easing over- burdensome regulations, we wouldn’t need to borrow billions of dollars. Instead, we would use an annual portion of our general fund tax dollars with limited borrowing to complete these projects. This balanced approach would significantly reduce our need to borrow billions of dollars. What about accountability and audits? Make no mistake; a bond is not free money. You will pay for the considerable borrowing with substantial interest. NO on 1B will force the Legislature to develop a responsible bond package by including “pay as you go,” environmental permitting reform, design-build efficiencies, and other common sense reforms. MICHAEL N. VILLINES |
$32 billion. That is what our children and grandchildren will pay to settle the debt associated with this bond. All this for funding costly programs at the expense of desperately needed highway construction. Make no mistake: every Member of the Legislature who voted against this bond measure supports restoring our state’s crumbling transportation system. We support dedicating every dollar you pay in gas taxes to our highways. And, we support building for California’s future wisely. However, this measure fails to achieve these important goals in a fiscally responsible manner. Improved transportation is a critical issue for our state, but equally important is that each additional borrowed dollar we spend worsens our budget deficit and could cause significant consequences for hard-working California families. A fiscally responsible solution would be a “pay as you go” approach to funding much-needed transportation projects. This approach will pay for infrastructure improvements from the general fund (taxes you already pay) and allow California to borrow less money to meet its annual obligations. By setting aside a portion of the budget each year for infrastructure, we will be able to better meet our state’s complex needs and not saddle our children and grandchildren with backbreaking debt. Of further concern in this measure is the rush to spend our tax dollars. In hastily passing this bond measure, the Legislature failed to include time and cost saving opportunities such as “Design-Build” and environmental permitting reforms that would have streamlined the construction process, completing more projects with the same amount of money. Additionally, within 3 weeks after voter approval of this measure, the California Transportation Commission is required to “develop and adopt guidelines” to fund all outlined transportation programs and spend billions of your hard-earned tax dollars. Then CALTRANS and your regional and county transportation agencies must submit all potential transportation projects to the California Transportation Commission. Just think: A state government agency must put rules in place to spend billions of dollars in just 3 weeks on projects across California without allowing enough time for public oversight and review. Is this the best way to spend your tax dollars? Significant fiscal decisions in Government should not be made without adequate time for due diligence and analysis. Governor Schwarzenegger is right; California state government has neglected the transportation needs of our State for three decades and something needs to be done. But let’s do this right. Let’s go back to the drawing board and find a responsible way to focus on critically needed projects while at the same time developing a financially accountable plan that includes a “pay as you go” element, without any wasteful spending to pay for these important projects. We should demand that our children and grandchildren have a transportation system that meets the needs of the 21st Century. That’s why you need to vote “no” on this bond and force the Legislature to produce a transportation infrastructure plan for our future that is responsible, realistic, and result driven. MICHAEL N. VILLINES
Even the opponent agrees we have to start now to improve our state’s crumbling transportation system, build new roads, and relieve traffic congestion. That’s exactly what Proposition 1B will do. YES ON 1B will finally make our transportation system a priority and provide funds we need to begin addressing the backlog of projects throughout the state to reduce congestion, improve air quality, expand mass transit, make road safety improvements, and repair local streets and roads. The longer we neglect our transportation system, the more costly and serious the problems become. We can’t afford to wait any longer. PROPOSITION 1B IS FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE • 1B contains strict fiscal safeguards to protect taxpayers, like annual audits and public reports to show how and where funds are spent.• By issuing bonds, Prop. 1B will provide immediate funding to jump-start transportation projects and allow us to pay for them over the next 20 years, with existing state revenues and without raising taxes. • Just like a mortgage on a home, Prop. 1B allows us to improve our transportation system now and pay for it as we use it over the long term. • That’s why THE CALIFORNIA TAXPAYERS’ ASSOCIATION SUPPORTS 1B. Yes on 1B is part of the Rebuild California Plan. Our
economic future and our quality of life depend on a reliable
transportation system that moves goods and people efficiently. YES on 1B. Build new roads and highways, invest in traffic safety, relieve congestion, and improve mass transit. LARRY McCARTHY, President |
Arguments printed on this page are the opinions of the authors and have not been checked for accuracy by any official agency.
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