Borrowing To Cover Up Deficit Irresponsibly Left In Last Year’s Education Budget. 

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. 

Reporting for EdSource, Diana Lambert wrote in an April 16th article that, “An agreement between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state Legislature that will reduce the state’s budget shortfall by $17.3 billion also will mean less money for school facilities.”

Borrowing To Cover Up $500 Million Cut In The School Facility Aid Program

“The agreement, signed April 4, cuts the state School Facility Aid Program by $500 million, reducing the funding from $875 million to $375 million. The program provides funds to school districts for school construction, deferred maintenance and emergency repairs.”

Borrowing To Cover Up $550 Million “Delay” In Facilities Grants For Preschool & T-K.

“The new agreement also delays $550 million in facilities grants for preschool, transitional kindergarten and full-day kindergarten until 2025-26. Districts can apply for funds through the program to build classrooms or retrofit existing facilities for preschool, TK or kindergarten classes.”

 Also Defered $499.1 Million In Funding To UC and CSU

“The agreement also defers $499.1 million in funding to the University of California and California State University, and reduces funding for the UCLA Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy Project by $300 million.”

School districts, community colleges, teachers unions and the building industry support Prop. 2, which stands to benefit schools and teachers with more funding and the building industry with more construction projects.

According to a report by Public Policy Institute of California there are more than $100 billion in facility needs over the next decade.

Proposition 2 will cost taxpayers another $500 million per year for 35 years, money that will come out of the state’s General Fund before any current needs can be funded. This is added to the nearly $8 billion in principal and interest payments that the state is already paying annually for previous bonds.

California’s current bond debt is about $79 billion, with another $30 billion authorized but not yet issued. In March, voters approved $6.38 billion more with Proposition 1.

The $500 million per year that Proposition 2 will cost taxpayers 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%. This generally means school districts have to put local school bonds on the ballot. If approved by 55% of voters, these bonds will add new, extra charges to property tax bills. The borrowed money is paid back by raising property taxes.

Higher property taxes raise the cost of housing and the cost of living, and not only for homeowners. Tenants will see higher rents and consumers will see higher prices as property owners deal with higher operating costs due to property tax increases.

Tax hikes are one more burden on struggling Californians, on top of higher electricity bills, higher insurance costs and higher grocery bills. That’s another reason we must look very closely at proposals for new debt to see if the money will be well spent.

Unfortunately, Proposition 2 does little or nothing to ensure that high priorities such as student safety are really funded this time, or if we’ll just go deeper into debt and then hear the same story about leaky roofs and asbestos next time.

So, because California Proposition 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, we urge you to “Vote No on Prop. 2.”