Voter frustration with the economy was evident on Nov. 2 in statehouse and congressional changes, but it also played out in how ballot funding and other initiatives fared. Some big-ticket state and local finance measures were rejected by voters, while others passed less enthusiastically than in better times. Also enacted were new restrictions that could complicate public-works procurement. Alabama voters turned down a proposed constitutional amendment to earmark $1 billion over a decade for road construction projects, but Rhode Island, Fairfax County, Va., and Austin, Texas, each approved close to $100-million-a-year transportation funding measures, says the American Road & Transportation
Voters around the U.S. will decide the fate of $4.8 billion in construction bond proposals on Nov. 2. The largest share of that total, nearly $3 billion, comes from local bond measures in Texas. There is more at stake than state and local bond proposals to fund infrastructure: Several policy questions on ballots could affect the construction climate in several key states. + Image Ten of the nation’s 12 statewide bond issues, totaling $1.3 billion, appear to be construction-related. The $1.9-billion volume for all statewide bond measures is down sharply from the $18.4 billion proposed in the 2008 elections, according