Big Day for Public Works, Paced by California's $37 Billion
Voters on Nov. 7 approved 14 of 15 statewide bond issues,totaling about $43.3 billion, most of it for infrastructure. Leading the packis California, where measures providing $37 billion for transportation, levees,schools and other public works won by wide margins. Many local issuesauthorizing billions of addition-al dollars, much of it for schools, also passed.
Bond issues generally do well at the polls, says JennieBowser, National Conference of State Legislatures policy analyst. “The dollaramount this year, though, is pretty astronomical,” she says. “That’s dueentirely to California.”