Gov. Stops in O.C. to Push for Bond Issue

Promising a new era of bipartisanship in Sacramento, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state’s top lawmakers stopped in Orange County on Monday during a statewide tour to praise a $37-billion bond issue headed for the November ballot.

“This is a historic infrastructure package,” Schwarzenegger said of four measures to appear on the ballot, including $20 billion for transportation, $10.4 billion for schools, $4.5 billion for levee repairs and $2.8 billion for low-cost housing.

“The public is so far ahead of us on the need for this,” said Senate leader Don Perata, a Democrat of Oakland. He was was joined by Senate GOP leader Dick Ackerman of Irvine, Assembly Speaker Democrat Fabian Nunez of Los Angeles and Assembly GOP leader George Plescia of San Diego.

The bulk of the money would go toward fixing the state’s highways, bridges, streets and roads.

Though the exact amount of bond money that counties would receive has not yet been determined, local officials said it looked as if the state was on the brink of reversing its decline in transportation funding.

“Lots of money could come to us that wouldn’t be available for a long, long time” without the bond, said Roger Soble, chief executive for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

MTA officials said the bond measure would ensure that its county would receive at least $1.88 billion, including $1 billion for public transit such as buses, Metrolink and the subway system.

Of the $2 billion earmarked for city and county roads, Los Angeles County would receive about $320 million, the most of any county. The agency could get an additional $3.4 billion by competing for discretionary funds raised by the bond measure.

“Transportation has been severely underfunded for a number of years, [and] this should help us get back on track,” said Cheryl Donahue, a spokeswoman for San Bernardino Associated Governments, which is a council of local governments and the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority.

Among that county’s priorities are a $1.1-billion project to widen Interstate 215 and a $1.25-billion widening of Interstate 10, as well as the $480-million widening of Interstate 15 over Cajon Pass.

In Riverside County, transportation officials hope proposals to relieve congestion on the Riverside Freeway, Interstate 15 and Interstate 215 will receive funding from the government’s transportation bond.

Orange County Transportation Authority officials estimate that the bond measure could provide the agency with at least $471 million: $97 million for highways, $210 million for public transit and $164 million for city and county streets.

OCTA also could increase its share of state matching funds if Measure M, the county’s transportation sales tax, is renewed by voters in November.

Authority officials are planning projects, such as improving every major freeway in Orange County, including the Riverside Freeway, portions of Interstate 5, and interchanges on the Orange and Costa Mesa freeways.

Orange County also would receive $1.1 billion to build schools and modernize schools and $185 million for flood control.

The governor said the statewide tour -- with airport stops in Oakland, Burbank and San Diego -- wasn’t a “campaign swing,” because lawmakers weren’t allowed to spend public funds for ballot advocacy.

The tour, he said, was a way to let voters know that their demand for action to rebuild California was heard. “We know you’re stuck in traffic,” Schwarzenegger said. “We want to make sure we can protect the California dream.”