The education bond proposition seemed to be headed for a narrow
victory as of late Tuesday night, likely securing a $12.3 billion
bond for cash-strapped educational institutions around the state to
upgrade aging facilities.
The proposition would provide funds to finance repairs and
provide relief for over-crowded classrooms. The University of
California would stand to receive $690 million of the bond.
The proposition was ahead in the polls by a slim margin late
Tuesday.
Had the bond failed, it would have been automatically bumped to
the November ballot.
Out of the $690 million the UC would receive, UCLA would get
about $70 million. The campus intends to use the money to retrofit
the Geology Building, Campbell Hall, the Graduate School of
Education and Information Studies and the Center for Health
Services to withstand earthquakes, and to construct a new Life
Sciences building.
The passage of the bond also allows UCLA to keep its medical
laboratories because if the university had not received the funds
to renovate the lab, it would have been forced to tear them
down.
In an election when many races were largely non-contests,
Proposition 55 tested voters, forcing them to decide between
funding education and allowing the state to take out a massive
loan.
Many educational institutions and organizations, including the
UC, have said Proposition 55 is essential to upgrade outdated
facilities, some of which they say pose a safety risk to students
and the teachers and professors who work in them.
Opponents of the bond, though generally supportive of education,
have said the state does not need to incur more debt beyond the $14
billion deficit the state will face next year.
According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the bond
will cost $24.7 billion to pay off, which includes the principle
cost of the bond and $12.4 billion in interest. The state intends
to pay off the bond over 30 years in annual increments of $823
million.
Kathy Fairbanks, a spokeswoman for the Yes on Proposition 55
campaign, said the bond is wholly necessary in light of a backlog
in California school construction and an expected surge in
enrollment in higher education.
“Definitely we know the need for the bond is there,”
she said.
Clara Potes-Fellow, a spokeswoman for the California State
University system, which stands to gain $690 million from the bond,
said the money is essential to pay for the first three years of
CSU’s five-year renovation plan.
The renovation plan, which aims to upgrade facilities on
virtually all CSU campuses, will, among other things add 200 new
classrooms to CSU campuses, provide for construction of new
facilities, and allow CSU to renovate old buildings.
There was no contingency plan to fund CSU’s renovations if
Proposition 55 did not pass, said Potes-Fellow.
But Mike Spence, president of the Californian Republican
Assembly, which opposed the bond, said there are more effective
ways to provide funds for education than taking out a bond, such as
eliminating government bureaucracy.
“We need to reform the system so there’s not 54
different agencies that school construction has to go
through,” he said.
Opponents of the bond also took issue with the billions in
dollars in interest the bond will incur. They say the legislature
could better use state funds by giving money used to pay off the
interest directly to education.
“We’re going to have $800 million worth of annual
budget cuts to pay the interest, and that’s going to come out
of someone’s hide,” he said.