| For Immediate Release
August 14, 2003 |
Contacts: | Victor
Rubin, PolicyLink |
Kristi Kimball, STPP
cell 650-678-0657 |
||
Sam Delson, Assm. Steinberg 916-319-2218 |
NEW REPORT
WARNS THAT UNDERINVESTMENT
THREATENS QUALITY OF LIFE FOR CALIFORNIANS
Broad-based Coalition Calls for Passage of ACA 14 and SCA 11
Sacramento , CA
- The "California dream" is at risk, according to a report released
today by PolicyLink, a nonprofit research organization, with the Surface
Transportation Policy Project (STPP) and Assemblymember Darrell Steinberg.
Threatened by rapid population growth, inefficient land-use patterns, traffic
congestion, air pollution and a shortage of affordable housing, California
communities must invest billions more in affordable housing, transportation,
farmland conservation, neighborhood parks and other amenities or else see
their quality of life decline. This new report, Investing
in a Sustainable Future: An Analysis of ACA 14 and SCA 11, highlights
critical investment needs of $10 billion for local streets and roads, $15
billion for transit, and $12.3 billion for parks and conservation. Affordable
housing is needed for 3.7 million households in California , costing billions
more.
Two constitutional amendments, ACA 14 and SCA 11, proposed by Assemblymember
Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Senator Richard Alarcón (D-Los Angeles)
would help address these challenges, according to the report, by providing
new financing tools to upgrade local communities. ACA 14 and SCA 11 would
lower the voter approval threshold from two-thirds to 55% for local sales
tax and bond measures for communities that want to invest in a mix of community
infrastructure and amenities, with a minimum investment of 20% in affordable
housing, transportation improvements, parks and other general infrastructure.
"I am carrying ACA 14 because I believe California's regions ought
to be able to control their own destinies," said Assemblymember Steinberg.
"Too many Californians find themselves stuck in traffic, unable to
breathe the air or unable to find an affordable home. If we do not take
action now, we can expect all of these problems to get worse in the years
ahead."
According to Radhika Fox of PolicyLink, "The current two-thirds threshold
creates almost insurmountable barriers to more efficient development in
many communities across the state. The data in our report suggests that
ACA 14 and SCA 11 would provide local governments with much needed new tools
to meet urgent community needs and to address them in a comprehensive and
balanced manner."
Based on a new analysis of data from the Public Policy Institute of California
(PPIC), the report shows that local voters' desires to invest in affordable
housing and other community amenities have been severely constrained by
the two-thirds vote threshold for local financing measures. If the vote
threshold had been lowered to 55%, over three times more local affordable
housing measures would have been approved in California between 1986 and
2002 - boosting the passage rate for these measures from only 20% to 70%.
The passage rate for local transportation measures would increase from 46%
to 59%; and the passage rate for local parks measures would increase from
30% to 50%.
The report also contends that a lower voter approval threshold would prompt
local voters to respond to the community infrastructure gap with more local
solutions, based on analysis of California's experience with local school
bond measures and the impact of Proposition 39 which passed in 2000. Since
the passage of Prop 39, 147 school districts have approved school bond measures.
Of these, 82 districts - over half - had never succeeded in passing a school
bond measure before.
" We should let local communities have more control over their own
destinies. These measures give them new tools to promote responsible growth
and help maintain quality of life," said Kristi Kimball, California
Deputy Director of the Surface Transportation Policy Project, which is sponsoring
ACA 14 and SCA 11.
The report was released today at a press conference held in Sacramento at
the 65th Street Light Rail Station and the future site of University Village,
a new transit-oriented development that combines housing, restaurants, shops,
and other local businesses and services within a short distance of transit.
Assemblymember Steinberg also announced at the press conference that approximately
70 groups have joined the broad-based coalition in support of ACA 14 and
SCA 11, including labor, business, local government, social equity, housing,
and environmental groups. The growing base of support for these measures
demonstrates that responsible growth and local control over investment decisions
are issues that appeal to many different constituencies.
" These measures reflect a growing consensus that building housing
affordable to people of all income levels strengthens the social and economic
fabric of our communities," said Julie Snyder of Housing California.
"The constitutional amendments also promote the concurrent development
of housing and other infrastructure that creates quality neighborhoods,
such as nearby transit and parks."
Jay Hansen, Legislative Director for the State Building Trades Council,
added, "SCA 11 is exactly the kind of legislation we need. It empowers
communities to help themselves and brings together everyone from across
the spectrum, labor, environment, transportation, and good public policy
advocates to work together to improve our communities."
"Farmland is a non-renewable resource that California is paving over
at a rate of 50,000 acres each year," pointed out John McCaull, California
director for American Farmland Trust. "California agriculture is a
powerful economic engine. In the midst of the greatest budget deficit our
state has ever seen it would be irresponsible to overlook new financing
tools that could help cities and counties protect their productive farm
and ranch land. With the right constitutional powers in place, voters will
have "room to grow" - in terms of both green working lands and
development."
PolicyLink is a national nonprofit research, communications, capacity building, and advocacy organization dedicated to advancing policies to achieve economic and social equity based on the wisdom, voice, and experience of local constituencies. PolicyLink bridges the traditional divides between communities and the world of policymakers by lifting up what works®.
The Surface Transportation Policy Project is a coalition of more than 200 professional, environmental and community organizations working for a balanced transportation policy that protects neighborhoods, promotes social equity and makes communities more livable. www.transact.org/ca/