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October 17, 2007
CA: Governor Wins Round 1 on 7.4 Billion Prison Bond Package
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Guv Wins Round 1 On Prison Bonds
A Sacramento judge has sided with Governor Schwarzenegger in a case that questioned the constitutionality of this year's $7.4 billion prison bond package.
Superior Court Judge Loren McMaster has ruled that the bonds to be sold under AB 900 do not appear to violate the state constitution, and that they are -- in fact -- "lease revenue bonds." That's a kind of bonds that are supposed to be paid back with lease (or rent) from the structures that were built, and the kind of bonds authorized under the new law.
But a group known as Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety took the Schwarzenegger administration to court this summer, arguing that there was no way someone could claim that a new prison counts as a facility that will produce lease or rental revenue.
In a new six page opinion, Judge McMaster writes that "the [state] General Fund is not pledged as security for the bonds." And therefore, he says, the constitution's requirement of a vote by the people... which only pertains to bonds that are paid off by the General Fund... does not apply.
Matt Gray, a spokesman for the taxpayers group, says they will appeal the ruling. And he argues that the plaintiffs are actually pleased to move the case to another court... where he says they will prove that the debt payments for the bonds are, in fact, going to be reliant on the General Fund.
However, even if the AB 900 bonds are sold there will still be questions remain about whether AB 900 constitutes enough "reform" for the panel of three federal judges who could unilaterally order major changes... even prisoner releases... to end the overcrowding in California's prisons.
Posted by lois at October 17, 2007 06:28 PM