News
CAMPAIGN 2006: Housing bond would boost programs for the poor: Prop. 1C would also fund anti-sprawl projects in cities
By Greg Lucas
San Francisco Chronicle
September 20, 2006
(09-20) 04:00 PDT Sacramento -- A smorgasbord of programs aimed at making housing more available and affordable for lower-income Californians would receive the lion's share of the $2.85 billion housing bond on the November ballot, with much of the rest intended to help along anti-sprawl developments in urban areas.
Proposition 1C is part of a five-bond package approved earlier this year by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and directs $1.5 billion to existing programs that provide grants or low-interest loans for everything from down-payment assistance to shelters for the homeless and farmworkers. The development programs, which account for $1.35 billion, are new, and lawmakers have yet to work out the details of how the money would be spent.
Builders and providers of low-income housing who support the measure stress how the measure would help victims of domestic violence, low-income seniors and the homeless. Opponents say the bond wouldn't make housing more affordable for most Californians and would increase California's debt by $6 billion over 30 years to pay off the principal and interest.
Prop. 1C appears to be registering with voters. An August poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 57 percent of likely voters surveyed supported the measure.
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