California Proposition 40, Bonds for Parks and Recreation (March 2002)

California Proposition 40, or the Clean Water, Clean Air, Safe Neighborhood Parks, and Coastal Protection Act of 2002, was on the March 5, 2002 statewide ballot in California, as a legislatively-referred bond measure, where it was approved.

Proposition 40 allowed the State of California to borrow $2.6 billion through the sale of general obligation bonds for "development, restoration, and acquisition of state and local parks, recreation areas and historical resources, and for land, air, and water conservation programs?"

Campaign spending on Proposition 140 was lopsided, with over $4 million spent urging a "yes" vote, and nothing spent opposing the measure.

Election results

Proposition 40
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		2,769,178	56.9%
No		2,101,516	43.1%

Text of measure

Graph of proposed Proposition 40 spending, prepared by the LAO

Title

The ballot title was:

The California Clean Water, Clean Air, Safe Neighborhood Parks, and Coastal Protection Act of 2002. Legislative Bond Act.

Question

The question on the ballot was:

"Should the state borrow two billion six hundred million dollars ($2,600,000,000) through the sale of general obligation bonds for development, restoration, and acquisition of state and local parks, recreation areas and historical resources, and for land, air, and water conservation programs?"

Summary

The summary of the ballot measure prepared by the California Attorney General read:

"To protect rivers, lakes, and streams to improve water quality and ensure clean drinking water; to protect beaches and coastal areas threatened by pollution; to improve air quality; to preserve open space and farmland threatened by unplanned development; to protect wildlife habitat; to restore historical and cultural resources; to repair and improve the safety of state and neighborhood parks; the state shall issue bonds totaling two billion six hundred million dollars ($2,600,000,000) paid from existing funds. This program is subject to an annual independent audit."

Fiscal impact

See also: Fiscal impact statement

The California Legislative Analyst's Office provided an estimate of net state and local government fiscal impact for Proposition 40. That estimate was:

• State cost of about $4.3 billion over 25 years to pay off both the principal ($2.6 billion) and interest ($1.7 billion) costs on the bonds. Payments of about $172 million per year.
• Costs potentially in the tens of millions of dollars annually to state and local governments to operate or maintain property bought or improved with these bond funds.

Campaign donors

The campaign to pass Proposition 40 spent over $4 million. There was no organized opposition campaign.

Major donors to the "Yes on 40" campaign were:

• The Nature Conservancy: $2.5 million
• Peninsula Open Space Trust: $900,000
• Wild Rose LLC: $500,000. This corporation is based in Seattle, Washington.
• Conservation Action Fund, Sponsored by the Planning and Conservation League: $470,000
• California Conservation Campaign: $275,000
• California Academy of Sciences: $250,000
• Anne G. Earhart: $200,000
• Save the Redwoods League: $200,000
• American Land Conservancy: $150,000
• Corporation of the Fine Arts Museums: $150,000

Path to the ballot

Proposition 40 was voted onto the ballot by the California State Legislature via Assembly Bill 1602 of the 2001–2002 Regular Session (Chapter 875, Statutes of 2001).

Votes in legislature to refer to ballot
Chamber	Ayes	Noes
Assembly	60	8
Senate	29	4

External links

• Official Voter Guide
• Smart Voter information about Prop 40
• Top 10 donors to Proposition 40
• List of committees donating to Prop 40 campaign
• Official declaration of the March 5, 2002 vote
• March 5, 2002 ballot proposition voter guide (PDF)
• Legislative Analyst's summary of Proposition 40