California road, school construction projects could be halted or delayed
State could take the action as its tries to cope with a mounting deficit and budget stalemate. Some of the projects are part of a construction bond voters approved in 2006.
Reporting from Sacramento — Road and school construction projects throughout California are on the verge of being halted or delayed, as state officials consider shutting off their financing to deal with California's cash crunch and budget stalemate.
Projects that could be idled or postponed include a carpool lane on the 405 between the I-10 and 101; $373 million in repairs and overcrowding relief for Southern California schools, including emergency repairs at nine Los Angeles Unified School District high schools and 5 Compton schools; California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection stations throughout forested areas; a new veteran's home serving western and northern Los Angeles and Ventura counties; a career center and technical education complex for a school for the deaf in Riverside; an appeals courthouse in Santa Ana and a Cal State University library in Monterey Bay, according to a list of projects compiled this afternoon by state agencies.
Some of the projects were the product of public works bonds that voters approved in 2006.
The bonds, put on the ballot in a deal that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger struck with the Legislature, was one of the main political achievements of the governor's first term, one that he cited in his successful reelection bid. But the future of those efforts are now in doubt.
The projects rely on accounts that are nearly depleted because the state has been unable to sell the routine bonds it uses to keep cash flowing. Last month, the state failed to sell two-thirds of bonds worth $500 million, according to state Treasurer Bill Lockyer.
On Wednesday morning in Sacramento, Lockyer, state Controller John Chiang and Schwarzenegger's Finance Director, Mike Genest, will meet to vote on a staff recommendation that new loans for construction projects be stopped and public agencies be barred from spending money they have already been given. The staff estimates that $3.8 billion in project funds would be affected.
"Exceptions may be made for specific projects," Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar said in an e-mail, if the officials determine that "a financing cutoff would expose the state to unacceptable financial penalties, or prevent the state from paying required loan interest or administrative costs."
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