Assembly OKs School Bonds Measure for 1994 Ballot

In a surprise vote that brought applause from Democrats and jeers from many Republicans, the Assembly on Friday took a step toward allowing voters to approve local school bonds by simple majority votes.

Under current law, local ballot measures for school construction bonds require a two-thirds vote for passage, a margin so difficult to attain that few measures pass.

With no votes to spare, the Assembly voted to place a proposed constitutional amendment on the June, 1994, ballot that would allow voters to decide whether they want simple majority votes to decide local school bond measures.

“It’s a historic occasion,” Assemblyman Jack O’Connell (D-Carpinteria) said. He failed repeatedly to win Assembly support for the measure over the past seven years, largely because it required a two-thirds vote in the lower house.

On Friday, it received the necessary 54 votes in the 80-member house. There were 24 votes against it, all of them from Republicans. The proposal goes to the Senate, where O’Connell said chances of passage are good. Gov. Pete Wilson backs the idea, and the Administration reportedly placed calls to Assembly members to urge support of the measure, O’Connell said.

The landmark Proposition 13 tax cutting initiative of 1978 effectively barred locally approved school bonds because property taxes could not be raised to pay for them. Before 1978, such measures needed a two-thirds vote for passage.

In 1986, voters approved a statewide referendum allowing local voters to approve school bonds by a two-thirds vote.

O’Connell’s proposal would shift the burden of school construction funding back to local authorities. Since Proposition 13’s passage, the state has funded most school construction. But there is a $6-billion backlog in building applications.

Urging support, Assemblywoman Delaine Eastin, (D-Fremont), said: “I remind you again of my old . . . professor who said: ‘If we had required a two-thirds vote, we’d still be colonies of Great Britain.’ ”

The vote left many Republicans furious, especially at seven members of their party who sided with the Democrats.

“It’s a real blow to retired persons,” said Assemblyman Richard L. Mountjoy (R-Arcadia). But he also saw potential political advantage for conservatives who will use it to “re-energize the Proposition 13 issue.”

“It’s indefensible of the Republicans who voted for it,” said Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach). Ferguson called opposition to simple majority votes on tax issues a “basic tenet” of the GOP. “Republicans who voted for it don’t understand the philosophy.”