Governor Jerry Brown is pressing his case for a smaller bond, reports the Sacramento Bee:
“Gov. Jerry Brown, pressing his case Tuesday for a smaller water bond on the November ballot, criticized the existing, $11.1 billion bond as “pork-laden” and “with a price tag beyond what’s reasonable or affordable.” Brown has been pushing for a $6 billion bond since June, with $2 billion of that amount for dams and other water storage projects. The proposal he released Tuesday maintains those figures. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Jerry Brown presses case on $6 billion water bond
Here is the proposal that’s been all over twitter.
For the Governor’s letter, go here: This just in … Governor Brown’s water bond letter: “We must act now so that we can continue to manage as good stewards of this vital resource for generations to come. But we can and must do so without returning California to the days of overwhelming deficit and debt.”
Senator Lois Wolk has issued this response:
Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis), the author of the Senate’s $7.5 billion water bond proposal (Senate Bill 848) and Chair of the Senate Select Committee on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, issued the following statement today after the Governor released an outline of his water bond proposal:
“It is good to see the Governor strongly engage in this discussion, and that he agrees that the bond currently set for the November 2014 ballot is a nonstarter. It’s bad for California. I’m encouraged to see that the Governor’s proposal is not that different from the Senate’s SB 848, and that he agrees that a successful water bond must focus on the most critical projects statewide and be neutral on the Delta tunnels. Neutrality on the tunnels will be critical to ballot success. In the coming weeks I will need to look closely at Governor’s proposal and work with my Senate colleagues to ensure that priorities are met for all regions of the state. One area in particular that requires attention is groundwater. The Governor’s outline is critically low on groundwater treatment, a statewide priority where needs are upwards of $1 billion dollars. I look forward to closing the gap between our proposals in the next few days.”
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