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AP17:062
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 2017
Contact:
Jesse Melgar or Sam Mahood
(916) 653-6575
Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation
Authorizes Bonds to Fund Projects for Drinking Water and Water Quality Improvements, to Reduce Environmental Vulnerability to Climate Change, and for State and Local Parks. Initiative Statute.
SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the proponent of a new initiative was cleared to begin collecting petition signatures this past Wednesday.
The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:
AUTHORIZES BONDS TO FUND PROJECTS FOR DRINKING WATER AND WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS, TO REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE, AND FOR STATE AND LOCAL PARKS. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Authorizes $7.99 billion in state general obligation bonds for various infrastructure projects in the following general categories: $3.99 billion for safe drinking water and water quality improvements, $2.20 billion to reduce environmental vulnerability to climate change, and $1.8 billion for state and local park improvements. Appropriates money from the General Fund to pay off bonds. Requires certain projects to provide matching funds from non-state sources and gives priority to disadvantaged communities. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: State costs of $15.6 billion to pay off principal ($8 billion) and interest ($7.6 billion) on bonds over a 40-year period. Annual payments would average $390 million. Annual payments would be lower than this average in the initial and final few years, and somewhat higher in the intervening years. Varying fiscal effects on individual local governments depending on specific projects undertaken, amount of grants and loans received, and amount of local financial support provided. (17-0007.)
The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1803 and the Attorney General’s tracking number is 17-0007.
The proponent of the measure, Joseph Caves, must collect the signatures of 365,880 registered voters (five percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2014 general election) in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than March 5, 2018. The proponent can be reached c/o Lance Olson at (916) 442-2952 or lance@olsonhagel.com.
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