The No on 18 campaign today announced its opposition to A.B. 1265, a bill to postpone the $11billion water bond from this November’s ballot to 2012.
“A vote for A.B. 1265 is a vote for the water bond,” said Jim Metropulos of the Sierra Club California. “Legislators should do what’s right for California and vote down this attempt to delay the measure – not try to hoodwink voters by postponing it for two years.”
Governor Schwarzenegger proposed postponing the measure to 2012 when polling numbers showed low support for the bond, which would cost California taxpayers $22 billion over 30 years to fund projects such as the construction of new dams.
“Voters know that the bond is bad for California,” said Elanor Starmer, Western Region Director with the consumer group Food & Water Watch. “The main beneficiaries of the bond would be special interests such as developers and agribusiness, not most Californians.”
“Legislators are seeing the writing on the wall,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parilla of Restore the Delta. “This bond is unpopular because it is bad policy. It’s bad for the Delta and bad for our communities. We need solutions that work for all Californians, not that continue the failed policies of the past.”