The governor and lawmakers want to borrow money for housing, climate change and schools — but they’ll need to persuade votes.
“A number of legislative leaders have come to me — ‘Hey, support this, support my bond, this bond,’” Newsom said at a recent press conference. “We have to work together on what the priorities are going to look like for November.” Democrats’ bond bills — added together — would tally more than $100 billion, though some overlap and would almost certainly be combined.
Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia and state Sen. Ben Allen, Southern California Democrats, have proposed measures worth more than $15 billion. The parallel bills are parked in committee, at leadership’s request, as the players negotiate. There are also multiple flood-focused bond bills. Glazer’s proposal has support from the University of California and California State University. Muratsuchi’s has marshaled a larger coalition that includes administrators, school boards, construction groups like the California Building Industry Association and the Coalition for Adequate School Housing, a group that spent heavily for the 2020 measure.California faces a massive housing shortfall.