Stop sleazy bill that hides school bond costs from voters

In a sleazy sleight of hand, state lawmakers are rushing through legislation that would hide from voters the size of tax increases needed for future school bond measures.

Californians who care about election transparency should call their legislators before they vote, perhaps as early as Monday, to urge them to oppose Senate Bill 863 — and to let them know that ballot deception is unacceptable.

There are huge sums at stake. Over nearly two decades now, local school districts have obtained voter approval to issue about $175 billion of bonds for school construction.

Many of the building projects are worthy efforts. But voters deserve full information before approving them.

Bonds are not free funds. They’re a form of borrowing for local governments that requires property tax increases to pay back bond holders who loan the money. Local officials, especially from school districts, conveniently omit the required tax hike from the language on the ballot.

Instead, the ballot wording is generally just a flowery description of all the wonderful new classrooms, school buildings and classroom equipment that the borrowed money will buy.

Finally, last year, the Legislature passed and Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 195, which requires the ballot language for bond measures include the rate and duration of the property tax increase.

It was common-sense transparency legislation, authored by Republican Assemblyman Jay Obernolte from San Bernardino County, that passed the Senate and Assembly without dissent.

The ballot wording for Dublin school district’s Measure H, like other school bond measures, didn’t mention the tax increase that would be required.

Voters should be told not only what they’re going to get when they pass a bond measure but also how much it’s going to cost them. Who could object to that?

Well, for starters, the politically powerful construction industry, bond campaign consultants, bond attorneys and other special interests who line their pockets with proceeds from the bonds.

And the school officials who are so determined to build new schools that they’re willing to deceive voters to achieve their ends. They all know that voters are less likely to pass school bonds if they understand the price tag.

So, in a move to continue the ends-justify-the-means strategy, their allies in the state Capitol have slipped into the package of state budget bills currently up for a vote one that would undo AB 195 for the next two years.

The new bill, SB 863, exposed by CAL-matters columnist Dan Walters, would conveniently delay implementation of the disclosure provisions during the upcoming November election, allowing school officials to continue their deceptive ballot practices.

School districts should be forewarned. We will not be a party to this ongoing obfuscation. We will be less inclined to support future school bond measures if districts are not fully transparent on the ballot about the cost of bond measures.

Meanwhile, SB 863 must be stopped. Votes in the Senate and Assembly could come as soon as Monday. Lawmakers should reject it. And if they don’t, Gov. Jerry Brown should veto it.