On the Ballot, Bonds May Need Steroids
A new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California shows the big bond package on the fall ballot is in trouble. The transportation and school bonds are just over 50 percent, and that number is likely to fall as the election approaches and voters get cold feet. Smaller measures for affordable housing and flood control are doing better, but they are hardly sure winners. Lots of interesting stuff here. For one thing, who would have thought voters would be more willing to borrow for affordable housing, which benefits the poor, than for roads, which benefit everybody. More important, for years Californians have said they want another era like the Pat Brown days. But Brown did what he did by raising taxes on rich people and borrowing even more through bonds. Now voters have the chance to do that, but they’re rejecting a gubernatorial candidate promising a tax increase for the rich and may kill off large pieces of a huge bonding package. Do Californians really want Pat Brown-like governance?