Here’s Part 3 of our L.A. Taco Voter Guide, focusing on Proposition 1 and Proposition 2, both of which address housing assistance initiatives with wide-spread support and little opposition. ... They also both come at a steep cost.
Prop 1: “Authorizes Bonds to Fund Specified Housing Assistance Programs.”
[dropcap size=big]U[/dropcap]nlike a lot of propositions in this year’s election, Prop 1 was authored by a state legislator, Jim Beall, the state senator representing most of Silicon Valley. California’s constitution requires that legislatures wanting to sell more than $300,000 in bonds for state projects have to put the proposal up for voters to vote on.
Just for a refresher from civics class, bonds are basically I.O.U.s that the state sells to investors which the state promises to pay back, with interest over time. Currently the state has $83 billion in bond debt, of which, the state is making $6 billion annually in return payments to investors. Prop 1 would add $4 billion to our overall bond debt. That’s a good amount of debt for sure, but Prop 1 wants something very tempting in return — funding for loans for the building of more affordable housing.