Deukmejian Lists Choices on Bond Measures

Gov. George Deukmejian urged California voters Saturday to choose carefully when voting on bond measures in the November general election.

Deukmejian, during his weekly radio address, said “without fiscal restraint by the voters this fall, we could find ourselves too deeply in debt and jeopardize the sound fiscal health we have worked so hard to achieve.”

The Republican governor compared bonds to home mortgages and car loans, saying the state has to repay the money--with interest.

“There’s nothing wrong with the use of bonds just as there is nothing wrong with borrowing to buy a house and paying off the mortgage during the time you use the house. But mortgages are not free money, neither are bonds,” Deukmejian said.

Deukmejian said voters in November are being asked to approve $5.3 billion worth of general obligation bonds, given that name because they are repaid from general purpose tax revenues. This comes on top of the $5 billion approved during the June primary election. If all the bonds on the November ballot pass, Deukmejian said the state will face an additional $9.6 billion in interest and principal payments over the next 20 years.

This year alone, payments on past bond measures will be $837 million, the governor said.

Deukmejian said he plans to vote against four initiatives containing bond proposals. They are Proposition 128, the so-called “Big Green” initiative that would authorize $300 million in bonds to be sold to raise money to purchase redwoods; Proposition 129, an anti-drug measure that would provide $740 million in bond money to build drug enforcement and treatment facilities, and Propositions 130 and 138, competing timber harvesting measures that would raise $742 million and $300 million, respectively, for redwood purchases and other forestry projects.

The Republican governor also said he plans to vote against three bond proposals that were part of a package of bonds approved by the Legislature, with Deukmejian’s consent, last month.

They are Proposition 149, a $437-million measure to provide money for state parks; Proposition 150, a $200-million proposal for county courthouses, and Proposition 151, which would authorize issuing $30 million in bonds for the construction of child-care facilities.

But Deukmejian also called bonds “an important financing tool which allows the government to build a project and pay for it during the long life of the project.”

The measures supported by the governor include Proposition 142, a $400-million proposal to continue the Cal-Vet home loan program for California veterans. These bonds differ from general obligation bonds because the money is repaid by the veterans who take out the mortgages.

Also getting the governor’s vote will be Proposition 143, which would provide $450 million for state-supported community colleges and universities; Proposition 144, which would authorize $450 million in bonds to build state prisons, and Proposition 145, a $175-million measure to provide subsidies for first-time home buyers and provide money for construction of housing for low-income people and the homeless.

Deukmejian also said he is supporting Proposition 146, which would raise $800 million for public school construction; Proposition 147, a $500-million measure for building county jails and juvenile detention facilities, and Proposition 148, which would provide $380 million for various water reclamation and treatment projects.