CA: Senate leader says governor, lawmakers need quick bond deal

ap on Bakersfield Californian ^ | 2/13/06 | Steve Lawrence - ap

[NormsRevenge]

SACRAMENTO (AP) - State lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have to move quickly if they want to put together a multibillion dollar plan this year to pay for transportation, flood control and other public works projects, the Senate leader said Monday.

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata said support for a deal could dry up or splinter into promotions for individual lawmakers' pet projects if an agreement isn't reached in the next few weeks.

"We've got to go like hell; we've got to treat it like a 100-yard dash," the Oakland Democrat said in a conference call with reporters.

He said lawmakers and the Republican governor don't have "very far to go in order to come up with a very workable plan."

But he also criticized some of Schwarzenegger's infrastructure proposals and an Assembly Republican pay-as-you-go plan to reduce reliance on bond borrowing for public works.

"You don't buy your house pay-as-you-go," he said. "Most people don't buy a vehicle pay-as-you-go. ... It's one of those things that sounds really nice, but if you take a step back it's really nonsense. It's a nonstarter as far as I am concerned."

Assembly Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, said Perata's position could make a deal tough to reach.

"I think he's misreading the ability to get something through the Legislature," McCarthy said, referring to the fact that some Republican votes would be needed to pass any bond proposals.

Democrats have majorities in both houses of the Legislature, but the bond proposals would need two-thirds votes to pass.

The governor wants lawmakers to approve the sale of $68 billion in bonds to help pay for a $222.6 billion public works program that would provide money for highway projects, transit, new schools, flood control, reservoirs, jails, prisons and a number of other facilities.

Under Schwarzenegger's plan, the bonds would require voter approval in a series of elections through 2014.

Perata is the author of a $13.1 billion bond measure that would provide money for flood control, port improvements, highway and rail expansions, various urban development projects, affordable housing and bridge upgrades. He's been running television commercials promoting the measure.

Other Democrats are carrying bills that would provide bond funds for parks and to retrofit hospitals for earthquake safety.

A two-house conference committee is scheduled to begin work Thursday on efforts to put create a bond package that could go on the June or November ballots.

Perata also said:

- Schwarzenegger's proposal to sell $9 billion in bonds to help pay for new jails, prisons, courthouses and certain other facilities was a very low priority. "The public wants to put people in jail but doesn't want to pay for new jails," he said.

- The state should focus on shoring up levees and other flood control improvements instead of building new reservoirs. "Why don't we try to prevent the water we have right now from leaking all over the place...?" he asked. "We can't pay for everything."

- Schwarzenegger's request for a constitutional amendment putting a cap on state bond debt payments amounted to "pandering to the public" and would result in creative accounting to get around the limit.

- Schwarzenegger seems open to adding funding for transit-oriented housing and more money for rail projects to whatever plan is adopted.

A spokesman for the Republican governor, H.D. Palmer, said Schwarzenegger's plan already includes $500 million for intercity passenger rail projects.

Palmer called Schwarzenegger's proposals a "well-rounded, thought-out strategic plan to renew the state's investment in its critical infrastructure."

He said bond funding was needed to relieve overcrowding in prisons and jails and to ensure that the growing state has enough courthouse facilities to meet its needed.

"Justice delayed is justice denied," he said.

The governor's proposed limit on bond repayments would show investors and the public that "we're going to carry out our plan in a fiscally responsible manner" and not plunge the state too deeply into debt, he said.

Palmer, spokesman for the Department of Finance, disagreed with Perata's assessment that failure to reach a deal quickly could prevent lawmakers and the governor from placing a bond package on the ballot this year.

"The need to address this issue is not going to go away...," he said. "The system of infrastructure that we have isn't going to be able to keep pace with the growth we know is coming to California."

[goldstategop]

The Democrats don't want to give Arnold a win he can run on for re-election in November. At the same time they know they're even less popular than the Guv. So the way they're playing it is to create the impression they want a deal but being careful not to commit to one.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[NormsRevenge]

I wonder if Perata will be around much longer, the ongoing FBI investigation of his little 'mafia' family ought to be wrapping pretty soon.


Gonna hate to see him go when the time comes. :-) I mean :(

PerataGate
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=peratagate

[Amerigomag]

"You don't buy your house pay-as-you-go," he said. "Most people don't buy a vehicle pay-as-you-go.

This is a rational argument from a Senate leader? Most people pay cash for their house and car?

Give me a while and I'll try to find the stats for finance v cash purchases of houses and cars.

[goldstategop]

Most people finance them. They're expensive purchases. But they do get paid eventually. I don't mind having our infrastructure work financed as long as its understood how its going to be paid for. That's the question that's keeping a deal from being reached on a bond.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")