Free Republic

If California voters reject the $10.4 billion education bond on the November ballot, the state's builders and developers will be on the hook for the full cost of every new school built in the state, starting at the end of 2007. The specter of having to cough up thousands of additional dollars in fees per home has California's builders and developers dumping millions of dollars into the education bond campaign. Two separate committees, funded largely by builders, developers, architects and engineers, already have contributed more than $1 million to help pass Proposition 1D, the school-bond measure. The powerful California Building...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A campaign committee controlled by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata received a half-million dollars this week from the California Building Industry Association, two days after the lawmaker killed flood-control legislation opposed by the group. The $500,000 contribution was made to Rebuilding California, formed by Perata to promote the transportation, housing, flood control and other bond measures on the Nov. 7 ballot. The massive donation on Thursday came after Perata's disclosure on Tuesday that he has shelved a package of eight flood-control bills touted as a way to reduce flooding risk in the Central Valley and other...