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CA: Investors, Wall Street skeptical of bond
Mercury News ^ | 2/6/04 | Ann E. Marimow

Posted on 02/06/2004 8:44:04 AM PST by NormsRevenge

Edited on 04/13/2004 2:49:34 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

SAN FRANCISCO - Passage of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $15 billion bond on the March ballot won't resolve an unwillingness in Sacramento to make politically unpopular decisions needed to balance the state budget, investors and rating agency officials agreed Thursday.

At the second annual California Municipal Finance conference in San Francisco, state Controller Steve Westly and state Finance Director Donna Arduin said the bond measure is the only practical short-term solution to the state's budget crisis.


(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: bond; calgov2002; investors; prop55; prop56; prop57; prop58; skeptical; wallstreet
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To: kellynla
It's all at that link... going back to 1911. Here's the past few years:

March 7, 2000

1A - Passed - Gambling on Tribal Lands. Legislative Constitutional Amendment.
12 - Passed - Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000.
13 - Passed - Safe Drinking Water, Clean Water, Watershed Protection, and Flood Protection Bond Act.
14 - Passed - California Reading and Literacy Improvement and Public Library Construction and Renovation Bond Act of 2000
15 - Failed - The Hertzberg-Polanco Crime Laboratories Construction Bond Act of 1999.
16 - Passed - Veterans Homes Bond Act of 2000.
17 - Passed - Lotteries. Charitable Raffles. Legislative Constitutional Amendment.
18 - Passed - Murder: Special Circumstances. Legislative Initiative Amendment.
19 - Passed - Murder. BART and CSU Peace Officers. Legislative Initiative Amendment.
20 - Passed - California State Lottery. Allocation for Instructional Materials. Legislative Initiative Amendment.
21 - Passed - Juvenile Crime. Initiative Statute.
22 - Passed - Limit on Marriages. Initiative Statute.
23 - Failed - 'None of the Above' Ballot Option. Initiative Statute.
24 - Removed from ballot by order of the California Supreme Court.
25 - Failed - Election Campaigns. Contributions and Spending Limits. Public Financing. Disclosures. Initiative Statute.
26 - Failed - School Facilities. Local Majority Vote. Bonds, Taxes. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.
27 - Failed - Elections. Term Limit Declarations for Congressional Candidates. Initiative Statute.
28 - Failed - Repeal of Proposition 10 Tobacco Surtax. Initiative Statute.
29 - Passed - 1998 Indian Gaming Compacts. Referendum Statute.
30 - Failed - Insurance Claims Practices. Civil Remedies. Referendum.
31 - Failed - Insurance Claims Practices. Civil Remedy Amendments. Referendum.

November 7, 2000

32 - Passed - Veterans' Bond Act of 2000. A.B. 2305.
33 - Failed - Legislature. Participation in Public Employees' Retirement System. A.C.A. 12.
34 - Passed - Campaign Contributions and Spending. Limits. Disclosure. S.B. 1223.
35 - Passed - Public Works Projects. Use of Private Contractors for Engineering and Architectural Services. Initiative.
36 - Passed - Drugs. Probation and Treatment Program. Initiative.
37 - Failed - Fees. Vote Requirements. Taxes. Initiative.
38 - Failed - School Vouchers. State-Funded Private and Religious Education. Public Schoolfunding. Initiative.
39 - Passed - School Facilities. 55% Local Vote. Bonds, Taxes. Accountability Requirements. Initiative.

March 5, 2002

40 - Passed - The California Clean Water, Clean Air, Safe Neighborhood Parks, and Coastal Protection Act of 2002. AB 1602.
41 - Passed - Voting Modernization Bond Act of 2002. (Shelley-Hertzberg Act). AB 56.
42 - Passed - Transportation Congestion Improvement Act. Allocation of Existing Motor Vehicle Fuel Sales and Use Tax Revenues for Transportation Purposes Only. Legislative Constitutional Amendment. ACA 4.
43 - Passed - Right to Have Vote Counted. ACA 9.
44 - Passed - Chiropractors. Unprofessional Conduct. SB 1988.
45 - Failed - Legislative Term Limits. Local Voter Petitions. Initiative.

November 5, 2002

46 - Passed - Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2002. S.B. 1227.
47 - Passed - Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2002. A.B. 47.
48 - Passed - Court Consolidation. A.C.A. 15.
49 - Passed - Before and After School Programs. State Grants. Initiative.
50 - Passed - Water Quality, Supply and Safe Drinking Water Projects. Coastal Wetlands Purchase and Protection. Bonds. Initiative.
51 - Failed - Transportation. Distribution of Existing Motor Vehicle Sales and Use Tax. Initiative.
52 - Failed - Election Day Voter Registration. Voter Fraud Penalties. Initiative.

October 7, 2003

53 - Failed - Funds Dedicated for State and Local Infrastructure. Legislative Constitutional Amendment. A.C.A. 11.
54 - Failed - Classification by Race, Ethnicity, Color, or National Origin. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.

March 2, 2004

55 - Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2004.
56 - State Budget, Related Taxes, and Reserve. Voting Requirements. Penalties. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.
57 - The Economic Recovery Bond Act.
58 - The California Balanced Budget Act.

November 2, 2004

Not yet numbered - Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act of the 21st Century.
Not yet numbered - Access to government information.
21 posted on 02/06/2004 10:55:19 AM PST by calcowgirl (No on Propositions 55, 56, 57, 58)
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To: calcowgirl
Thanks again. I'll check it out.
22 posted on 02/06/2004 11:07:01 AM PST by kellynla ("C" 1/5 1st Mar. Div. U.S.M.C. Viet Nam 69&70 Semper Fi!)
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To: SierraWasp
....over on the CA board

Okay... I really really hate to admit this... but I have never been able to figure out how to get to that board, except when someone posts things and it shows up on 'my comments'. LOL. Can ya help me out?

23 posted on 02/06/2004 11:17:18 AM PST by calcowgirl (No on Propositions 55, 56, 57, 58)
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To: calcowgirl
I think you have to select something in "Preference" on your own FR home page, or something. Not totally sure, but it comes up for me automatically anytime somebody posts something to it.

Don't be afraid of displaying ignorance. It's stupidity that's bad, not ignorance.

24 posted on 02/06/2004 11:23:18 AM PST by SierraWasp (EnvironMentalism is NOW beyond the point of "Diminishing Returns!" GANG-GREEN is setting in!!!)
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To: SierraWasp
It's stupidity that's bad, not ignorance.

LOL. I like that!

re: CA Board, I finally figured it out... I clicked on my username (next to 'my comments'), then 'my locale', then 'California', VOILA!

25 posted on 02/06/2004 11:35:43 AM PST by calcowgirl (No on Propositions 55, 56, 57, 58)
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To: calcowgirl; Grampa Dave; BOBTHENAILER
I like when Walter E. Williams substitutes for Rush and always says he's "pushing back the frontiers of ignorance!"

Ever notice how much better off blacks would be if their "black leaders" were Phd's instead of "reverends?" Dr. Williams and Dr. Sowell make the Rev. Jackson and the Rev. Sharpton look both ignorant and stupid!!!

26 posted on 02/06/2004 12:25:30 PM PST by SierraWasp (EnvironMentalism is NOW beyond the point of "Diminishing Returns!" GANG-GREEN is setting in!!!)
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To: NormsRevenge; SierraWasp
I'll go out on a limb and predict that most of these bonds will fail and we will see big tax increases by summers end because prop 56 passes. Arnold will declare a "Emergency" and sign them...
27 posted on 02/06/2004 4:11:42 PM PST by tubebender (Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see...)
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To: tubebender; hedgetrimmer; Carry_Okie; NormsRevenge; dalereed
That's ok, tubebender, as that's the price we are told we must pay as conservatives social leppers that believed in simple checkbook math and true leadership. We have won, now, with someone rich and famous to look after our interests that has an "R" behind his long name of renoun.

He will provide for our every need through putting us in bondage, or, as you say, confiscating more of the fruits of our toil (till we're in the toilet) to keep the Davisite Demicrats from getting upset!!! (/total dripping sarcasm)

There's no need for you to torment us with your taxation speculation to cause further vexation because that is not nearly all that we have to fear from this administration.(wide grin)(happy Friday tew y'all)

28 posted on 02/06/2004 5:54:47 PM PST by SierraWasp (EnvironMentalism is NOW beyond the point of "Diminishing Returns!" GANG-GREEN is setting in!!!)
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To: SierraWasp
I'm not voting for his bond and neither are anyone that i've talked to.

That RINO can stick it where the sun doesn't shine.
29 posted on 02/06/2004 6:16:49 PM PST by dalereed (,)
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To: SierraWasp
Ever notice how much better off blacks would be if their "black leaders" were Phd's instead of "reverends?"

Great point. I'm ROFLMFAO over that one.

30 posted on 02/06/2004 6:46:18 PM PST by BOBTHENAILER (One by one, in small groups or in whole armies, we don't care how we do, but we're gonna getcha)
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To: NormsRevenge
So why vote for it? They'll still need to cut spending to balance the budget. There's no smoke and mirrors left to dodge the difficult decisions in California any more - its crunch time!
31 posted on 02/06/2004 6:50:11 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: SierraWasp
Looks like another year of budget stalemate. Too bad we couldn't recall the liberals in the State Legislature in Sacramento last October...
32 posted on 02/06/2004 6:52:06 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: goldstategop
Yeah stop them before they pass a law that says every house in California must be feng shui.

I am not kidding, this is a law currently in the Senate.
33 posted on 02/06/2004 7:02:24 PM PST by hedgetrimmer
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To: hedgetrimmer
Along with a measure outlawing calling sports teams "Redskins." That's what passes for a serious agenda among California Democrats these days.
34 posted on 02/06/2004 7:04:02 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: goldstategop; tubebender; NormsRevenge; dalereed; Ernest_at_the_Beach; FairOpinion; South40; ...
Sacramento Business Journal - February 2, 2004 http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2004/02/02/editorial1.html

OPINION

From the January 30, 2004 print edition

Going Gray

THE ISSUE: State won't release papers describing what layoffs will do to state government

OUR POSITION: This is the same stunt the recalled administration pulled. It's still wrong

At least the government of California is consistent. For the second time in as many administrations it has concluded that the way it chooses to spend the money it collects from the people of California should remain a secret from the people of California.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

This time around, the state Department of Finance has refused to release documents describing the effects of budget-balancing layoff plans on state government. Allowing those documents to escape the hallowed halls of the bureaucracy, the state contends, would "discourage candid discussion and inhibit the free flow of ideas" among state officials.

Funny, we thought that function was fulfilled by politics-as-usual and covering one's own or one's boss's butt.

The records have been sought by The Sacramento Bee, which reported this week on the refusal by state officials to release them. The newspaper had made the same request of former Gov. Gray Davis' administration, with the same result. There was some reason to be hopeful the second time around. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had pledged to open up state government to more scrutiny, restoring the public trust in a system widely seen as fraught with secret deals and the influence of cash.

Hey, Madge, this Mr. Outside sure is a maverick, ain't he? At least he was until he became Mr. Inside. Now, Schwarzenegger's sunshine policy for the Capitol has given way to the same old clouds, and the people's business has once more become "mind your own business."

It is our own business.

The continuing budget gyrations will cost thousands of state jobs, still the underpinning of the local job market. At the same time, any decision to cut -- or to not cut -- state jobs because of the effect it would have on state operations has broader economic implications.

Why did billions in cuts proposed in the 2004-05 budget land on health and welfare programs? Because cuts there would do the least harm? Because the most fat could be found there? Because other programs have a higher priority in the current administration? To the extent these issues are discussed in the documents that have been withheld, we might never know.

And that kind of information is important as we consider whether $15 billion in bonds is worth the support of the voters and what elements of the governor's budget proposal should be part of the final bill.

Schwarzenegger has earned much support from the business community for his attention to how government action affects businesses and their ability to compete. But the government itself is not a business and its deliberations and actions should not be treated as trade secrets.

The governor, his appointees and staff -- public servants all -- should embrace public scrutiny of their "candid discussion" and "free flow of ideas," which were, after all, paid for with California tax dollars.

The public's business should be done in public. Release the documents.

35 posted on 02/06/2004 7:23:32 PM PST by SierraWasp (EnvironMentalism is NOW beyond the point of "Diminishing Returns!" GANG-GREEN is setting in!!!)
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To: NormsRevenge
So how come the analysts don't address what will happen if the bond doesn't pass?!
36 posted on 02/06/2004 7:26:38 PM PST by FairOpinion (If you are not voting for Bush, you are voting for the terrorists.)
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To: FairOpinion
It's then becomes what is a called a fiscal problem.. or something known to most folks as an emergency .. and you know what that means...

Just some cuts might save us.. but unfortunately, budgets have a habit of getting bigger each year all by themselves.. and so far, the leftie legislators have failed to heed the warnings.

We haven't shrunk much of many thing so far in sacramento.. only our debt load grows lately,, time for the brakes,, consequences and all... maybe the public will pay more attention who they vote for next time.
37 posted on 02/06/2004 7:36:27 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi Mac)
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To: NormsRevenge
And here is an article from Forbes.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2004/01/12/rtr1208061.html

Wall Street cautiously welcomes California budget
Reuters, 01.12.04, 9:40 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Credit ratings agencies on Monday praised Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's austere budget as a step toward solving California's chronic fiscal problems, but cautioned that much hinges on the veteran showman's ability to sell a $15 billion bond plan to voters.

If voters fail to approve that long-term bond, California lawmakers could be thrown back to the political deadlock that Schwarzenegger has vowed to break -- facing either deeper spending cuts that Democrats will not support or tax hikes the Republican governor has rejected, analysts and investors said.

Steve Zimmermann, a managing director at Standard & Poor's, said the budget plan, which must be backed by two thirds of the Democratic-controlled legislature, represented a step toward resolving California's looming deficits over coming years.

"This budget, if adopted, would be movement toward structural balance through cuts," Zimmermann said.

But passing the $15 billion bond is crucial for the state, which would otherwise face the prospect of trying to roll over $14 billion in short-term debt, Zimmermann and others said.

If both major bond proposals are blocked at the ballot box or by the courts, officials have said California will run out of cash in June.

Stephen Moore, a senior fellow with the Cato Institute and member of the governor's budget audit team, said : "None of us want to borrow, but we definitely think borrowing is a superior alternative to raising taxes. Borrowing is the least bad alternative."

Tim Blake, a senior analyst at Moody's Investors Service said the one-time fixes in Schwarzenegger's budget plan point to a massive problem that cannot be solved in a year.

But he added Moody's was not "critical" of the stop-gap measures given the severity of California's fiscal problems, which spurred the agency to cut the state's credit rating in December. (Additional reporting by Michael Kahn in San Francisco)


38 posted on 02/06/2004 7:38:50 PM PST by FairOpinion (If you are not voting for Bush, you are voting for the terrorists.)
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To: FairOpinion
Reuters, huh? LOL

The one time fixes in Arnold's budget are so much baloney, let's make cuts and not incur new debt at higher interest rates.

Seeing as how the powers to suspend funding mandates isn't an option (not sure why) or so it appears or a line item veto,, We'll just have to see ya and the experts at the voting booth.

39 posted on 02/06/2004 7:55:48 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi Mac)
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To: calcowgirl
Okay... I really really hate to admit this... but I have never been able to figure out how to get to that board, except when someone posts things and it shows up on 'my comments'. LOL. Can ya help me out?

I bookmarked it on my browser: The "Freeper Profiles" page:
http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/profiles?location=53

You can also click on someone's profile and then click their state flag.

40 posted on 02/06/2004 8:07:05 PM PST by heleny (No on propositions 55, 56, 57, 58)
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