FLASHREPORT

REBUILD CALIFORNIA: BUILD NOW, BUILD MORE, AND SPEND LESS - WITHOUT RAISING TAXES!

An exclusive column for the FlashReport submitted by Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy

Today Assembly Republicans are introducing a common sense reform that will allow our state to build now, build more, and spend less.  Our proposal, to be taken to the people after legislative approval, will set aside one percent of the general fund for statewide infrastructure projects starting with the 2007-2008 budget.  In subsequent years when annual budget spending grows by at least $5 billion, our proposal would increase the investment by up to an additional $750 million. 

That would bring us more than $35 billion over the next decade for critical infrastructure projects.

This approach is not new in California.  In fact, visionary Governors like Earl Warren, Pat Brown and Ronald Reagan took a similar approach by investing sizable yearly budget dollars in key infrastructure projects – paving thousands of miles of new state highways, building our expansive system of water delivery, and opening new campuses of the University of California and California State University.  They did this not by running up California’s credit card but by dedicating a portion of the general fund each year for infrastructure projects.  To them, leadership appropriately meant paying for today’s needs today, as well as paying for tomorrow’s needs today.

Since that time, spending on infrastructure has, unfortunately, declined to less than one percent of our state budget.  At the same time, our population has grown dramatically, while the demands on our roads, water delivery and storage systems, levees, and schools have grown far more complex.  The time has come to return to the forward thinking of the golden era of infrastructure by taking the bold step to devote a greater and growing portion of the budget each year to current and long-term infrastructure needs. 

Under our proposal, the governor and legislature will prioritize every year during the budget process the statewide infrastructure projects that must receive funding.  Whether building new roads, opening new schools, or replacing crumbling levees, Democrats and Republicans will have to work together to prioritize statewide projects so that we take action on what is doable, fundable, and critical. 

Assembly Republicans will include in our plan important safeguards to ensure that California’s other vital needs are not shortchanged by our new investment in infrastructure.  No funds will be set aside for infrastructure unless the Proposition 98 guarantee for schools is fully funded.  Gas tax revenue will be spent solely on transportation, which the people demanded when they approved Proposition 42.  And only a portion of any new spending each year will go to infrastructure, leaving billions available for other services.

We can accomplish all of these goals while greatly reducing the need to borrow.  In fact, our infrastructure investment plan funds double the number of projects over the next 20 years -- without incurring a single dime of interest payments.

Before we can responsibly take any of these steps, Assembly Republicans believe we must have an agreement as to how we will eliminate our structural budget deficit.  We simply cannot allow it to get any worse.  We must make a strong commitment to continue down the path to balance our fiscal books, before we take on any new debt, expand any programs, or launch new initiatives.  One step we can take to reduce the structural deficit is to repay funds borrowed from Proposition 42, which also helps trim the overall budget gap and make funds available almost immediately for transportation projects already approved.

The best news of all is that we can do all of this without raising taxes and fees on working families.  Our plan makes a powerful statement that California’s infrastructure problems are real, and solutions will not come from one source, but rather from the kind of creative, bipartisan lawmaking that was once the hallmark of leaders like Warren, Brown, and Reagan – helping us to build now, build more, and spend less.