$1.9-Billion School Bond Measure Urged for Ballot

Gov. Pete Wilson on Tuesday called on the Legislature to place a $1.9-billion bond issue for public school construction on the June ballot but appeared to abandon hope of agreeing with legislative leaders on when or if to put another $4 billion in proposals before the voters.

Even the school bond measure, which school districts across the state say is desperately needed, could be scuttled if Wilson and Democratic leaders can’t agree on whether to keep a statewide cap on the fees that school districts collect from developers to help pay for new classrooms.

But in a letter to Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), Wilson left open the possibility of signing bond measures for prisons, parks, higher education, and water and sewage projects if they reached his desk.

On the schools issue, Wilson is insisting that Democrats repeal a state law that would remove a cap on developer fees if a statewide bond issue fails to get a majority of the vote.

The 1986 law that adopted the cap--now about $2,400 on a 1,500-square-foot home--included the provision to lift it if voters rejected a statewide bond measure. Lawmakers reasoned that under such circumstances, local schools would have little choice but to go to new home buyers for the money to build new schools.

The law was suspended for three years in 1988 but went into effect again on Jan. 1, 1991.

Wilson said in the letter that new home buyers should not “bear an unfair burden” in financing schools. “We must continue to balance the need for new schools with the need for affordable housing,” he said.

Bill Livingstone, Wilson’s press secretary, said Brown, in private meetings with the governor, is refusing to guarantee that Assembly Democrats will vote to repeal or suspend the law. According to Livingstone, Brown told Wilson that the Democrats under his leadership are divided and the issue should be left to a vote on the Assembly floor.

“The Speaker says he wants to resolve that with a vote on the floor,” Livingstone said. “It’s a foregone conclusion what the outcome of that is going to be. That’s not negotiation. It’s cherry-picking the issues he wants to talk about and using the Assembly vote to resolve the other issues in his favor.”

Wilson said that further meetings among the governor and the Democratic and Republican leaders in the Assembly and Senate probably would not be productive if Brown is not willing to settle the school fees issues in such negotiations.

Jimmy R. Lewis, Brown’s press secretary, confirmed that Brown wanted further discussion of the school fee issue. But he accused the governor of making a “unilateral decision” to halt the leadership talks on the bond issues.