Prop 2. is a $10 BILLION dollar scam that won’t fix schools. It is a give-away to politically connected special interests, wealthy donors and wealthy districts. Because of these special interest deals, Prop. 2 discriminates against black and Latino construction workers and wastes on average 13-15% of the taxpayer funds allocated for these projects.
Worse yet, Proposition 2 will cost taxpayers another $500 million per year for 35 years, but that is only the beginning. In order to receive any of the Prop. 2 bond funds from the state, local school districts must provide a “local match” of up to 50%. These bonds will add new, extra charges to property tax bills. The borrowed money is paid back by raising property taxes. And the money for that $500 million a year has to come from somewhere. That means cutting other spending programs or raising taxes. That’s why experts have long called bonds “delayed tax increases.”
And if that wasn’t enough, Prop. 2 spends $1 billion dollars of the $10 billion it would borrow, to paper-over the $1 billion dollar deficit that the Governor and the Legislature irresponsibly left in last year’s education budget.
If voters continue allowing this wasteful, irresponsible borrowing; then our leaders will continue to spend wastefully, and they will never prioritize education. Prop 2 does not even require the funds to be spent on schools. Sacramento will spend the $10 billion on whatever it wants. That is why the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, Central Valley Business Federation (BizFed), Reform California, State Senator Brian Jones, Assemblyman Bill Essayli, and the OC Register Newspaper all oppose Prop. 2.
This is a boondoggle, not an education bond.