Calif. Governor Backs New Effort To Ease Approval of School Bonds

By Jessica L. Sandham

The Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who helped finance a doomed, $23 million campaign to make it easier for California's districts to raise money for facilities are hitting the pavement for better school buildings again—this time with the help of Gov. Gray Davis.

In an effort to place a measure similar to the failed Proposition 26 on the ballot next November, some state business groups and prominent technology executives are working to collect 1 million signatures by May 7. Proposition 26, which voters narrowly rejected in a statewide election March 7, would have lowered the percentage of votes required to pass local bonds from two-thirds to a simple majority. ( "Mixed Results on Ballot Questions," March 15, 2000.) The new initiative would change the threshold to 55 percent.

California is one of only four states that require a two-thirds vote for local bonds, and proponents of the new initiative have long contended that the supermajority requirement has hamstrung districts' ability to pay for the...