Free Republic

Democratic lawmakers will oppose Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to borrow $2 billion in transportation funds to balance the state budget, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez said Thursday. Highway and transit projects would be delayed if the governor gets his way, and Nuñez, D-Los Angeles, called that an unacceptable burden on the middle class. "We've got to deal with the issue of folks spending more time on the roads and highways than at home with their families, and if we're going to be a first-class state we've got to make sure we keep up to speed with the improvement of our roads...

<p>After saying for weeks there would be no option for putting a big bond measure on the spring ballot, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger quietly gave the green light Friday to a plan to borrow $10.7 billion without voter approval.</p> <p>Last summer, the Legislature authorized the bond sale as part of the budget agreement signed by former Gov. Gray Davis. But taxpayer groups, as well as many Republican lawmakers, criticized the deal, saying borrowing of that magnitude should be approved by voters.</p>

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) - A judge has blocked as unconstitutional the state's plan to borrow nearly $2 billion to pay for employee pensions, part of the more than $15 billion in borrowing lawmakers relied on to balance the budget.</p> <p>If upheld on appeal, the judge's preliminary opinion could raise legal questions over other planned bond sales in the $99 billion budget signed by the governor early last month, and possibly lead to further cutbacks and new taxes.</p>