The California Legislature has approved a $10 billion education infrastructure bill, which was signed by the governor on the 3rd of this month and will appear on the ballot in November.
In the state Senate, the bill passed with 34 votes in favor and 3 against. Republican Senators Brian Dahle, Brian Jones, and Kelly Seyarto voted against the bill.
The bill overwhelmingly passed the state Assembly with 72 votes in favor and 1 against, with the sole opposing vote from Republican Assemblyman Bill Essayli.
The bond program, known as Assembly Bill 247, initially proposed $14 billion for school facility repairs and modernization investments. After lengthy negotiations in the state legislature, the bill was approved by the Senate Education Committee on July 1, but with a $4 billion reduction in funding.
Another $10 billion climate resilience bond program, Senate Bill 867, also passed in both houses and was signed by the governor on the 3rd of this month.
The principal author of the education bill, Democratic Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, stated to Epoch Times on July 1 that climate legislation impacted the amount of education bond funding. He said, “We have discussed the issue of setting a cap on the total bond debt to be proposed, resulting in the education bond being capped due to a combination of education and climate bonds.”
The education bonds will primarily be used to allocate state funds for repairing school buildings over 75 years old and for testing and remediation of lead contamination in school water systems.
Muratsuchi said, “Historically, school districts have relied on local bond programs to meet facility needs, so this statewide school bond will provide necessary supplemental funding for those local school districts.”
Public Advocates, a civil rights law firm, wrote to Governor Gavin Newsom in February, stating that in California, “Low-wealth school districts cannot access sufficient funds for facility modernization as high-wealth districts do.”
The firm believes this situation “systematically disadvantages low-wealth school districts.”
According to the state Senate analysis, the current bond program aims to address this issue by increasing state funds for certain school districts, depending on the district’s ability to generate local funds, the proportion of low-income, foster, and English learner students, whether the district has fewer than 200 students, and whether the district has labor agreements.
Assemblyman Essayli cited the state’s budget crisis as a primary reason for opposing the measure, stating in an interview with Epoch Times, “We are out of money, and bonds are not free money.”
According to the Senate Education Committee analysis, the distribution of funds for this bond program includes: $3 billion for constructing new school facilities, $4 billion for modernizing school facilities, $115 million for water quality testing and remediation, $600 million for charter school facilities, $1.5 billion for community colleges, and $600 million for vocational education facilities.
A survey by the Public Policy Institute of California in June showed that most California voters do not support issuing state bonds this year, with 64% of likely voters believing that it is “inappropriate” to issue state bonds in 2024 to fund state-level programs and infrastructure projects.
If this school improvement measure is approved, it will be the first education construction bond approved by voters since 2016. That year, California voters passed Proposition 51, authorizing $7 billion for construction and repairs in public schools. ∎