SACRAMENTO — Coming off a losing campaign to curb state spending, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is promoting a statewide public works program that may be financed by a bond sale so large it would dwarf previous state borrowings.
The governor hopes to join with Democratic leaders and businesses to address Californians' growing frustration with clogged roadways, polluted water, hospital shortages, overcrowded schools and, in the wake of the devastation in New Orleans, inadequate disaster preparedness.
Schwarzenegger is seizing an issue with wide bipartisan support in an effort to restore his image as a moderate, although his plan threatens to cause tension with some conservative allies who have long warned against more government borrowing.
If he succeeds, Schwarzenegger could reposition himself in the model of former Gov. Pat Brown, who by the time he left office in 1967 had created a legacy of roads, waterways and universities that continue to help drive the state economy today.
"What I've said to my team is ... give me the whole package: highways, freeways, bridges, ports, the levees -- everything that has to do with infrastructure that will upgrade the state," Schwarzenegger said in a recent interview.
"Give me the whole plan and all the options of how to finance that.... Let's not Mickey Mouse around here and try to introduce a $5-billion bond to fix transportation. It's bogus. Or $10 billion. It's bigger than that."
The governor has not decided on an amount. But groups that have been working closely with the administration say the price tag could be $50 billion or more.
"Fifty [billion dollars] to $100 billion wouldn't be out of the question if we could show voters this would help solve our state's problems," said Jim Earp, executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs, an umbrella group for the state's heavy construction industry.
Business groups acknowledge that the state may not be able to sell such a large bond issue unless lawmakers and voters alike go along with a tax increase to back it up -- perhaps a quarter-cent or half-cent sales tax or billions of dollars in new user fees that could affect businesses.
"It is possible he [Schwarzenegger] will bite a lot of bullets to do this," said Tony Quinn, co-editor of the California Target Book, a nonpartisan election guide. "Don't be surprised if the governor says, 'Yes, this costs money, but it is something we have to do.' He'll say that otherwise we cannot have the state we envisioned for our children and grandchildren."
