Proposition 84			00.00 10/05
	Opinion
	Submitted as: "The Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006"
	Measure 84 is a bond in the amount of $5.338 billion, to be used for water conservation and environmental activities, statewide.
	Bonds are not "free money".  They have a number of negative qualities:
		The money is borrowed, and must be repaid.  This makes the state a debtor, and the debt at some point can become dangerous to the state's credit rating.
		The borrowed money must be repaid with interest; for a 30 year bond at 5%, this about doubles the face value cost of the bond.
		Money to pay interest generally comes from the state General Fund, that is operating money, dollars that might have been used instead to pay for current projects.
	Consequently, we believe bonds should be used only as a last resort, in cases where the need is urgent and there are no other means of raising the necessary money.  The purposes should be well defined and responsibility for management should be clearly described.
	84 does not qualify.  As you can see from our Summary page for 85, there are two main categories for which this Bond tries to raise money.  The first, about $2.3 billion total, goes to maintain water quality by means of grants and loans, and prevent floods by granting a meager $800 million to the state departments whose job that is.  But 1E already does that, allocating more than twice that money, to programs and departments that already have a track record. The remainder, almost $3 billion, goes to pet projects (and in some cases pet organizations) near and dear to the hearts of the environmentalists.  These may be desirable goals, but they are NOT urgent needs for the state.
	Vote NO on 84.
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