Couldn’t agree more!
We need to follow the money, the spending of it, to ensure the infrastructure for which the public voted gets built.
Editorial: Christmas in November
Will $42.7 billion in bonds be wasted?
- Published 12:00 am PST Saturday, November 11, 2006
California voters sent a strong message Tuesday when they approved $42.7 billion in bonds but rejected other spending initiatives that lacked accountability and strong controls on how the money would be spent.
Proposition 86 (the tobacco tax and hospital subsidy) and Proposition 87 (the oil tax) went down to defeat. But the electorate approved all four public works bonds the governor and Legislature placed on the ballot, plus Proposition 84, which invests $5.4 billion in parks, water projects and flood control. Clearly, Californians want to address a backlog of needs, but also are wary of public funds being misused and wasted.
They should remain wary.
Now that voters have approved the bonds, the Legislature will have wide latitude to direct how that money is spent. Local governments, nonprofits, construction companies and other interests are already scrambling to secure their shares. Without strong oversight, there is a potential for billions of dollars to be misused or inordinately funneled toward constituencies favored by top legislative leaders.
