Voters to Decide on $7.5B Water Bond in November

The California Legislature voted Wednesday night to place a $7.5 billion bond on the November ballot to pay for water projects.

Democrats and Republicans wrangled over the issue before coming up with the final language.

Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, told The Sacramento Bee, “Yes, there’s a deal. It was real critical to get a bond that actually helped fund two reservoirs. We’ve had a lot of bonds in the last 15 years that haven’t had any storage, so we finally have a water bond that has water in it.”

The legislature needed a two-thirds vote to place he bond on the ballot. Democrats compromised on the reservoirs in order to get the needed votes.

This bond will replace an earlier effort by the legislature that weighed-in at $11.1 billion. Gov. Jerry Brown called it too expensive and threatened to campaign against it.

The vote was 37-0 in the senate and 77-1 in the assembly. Southern California Republican Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, was the lone dissenter.