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TAXPAYER GROUPS: PROP. 35 WILL SAVE MONEY, GET US MOVING SACRAMENTO – The California Taxpayers’ Association – reflecting the views of more than a dozen other taxpayer organizations around the state – today called Proposition 35 the crucial missing component required to get the Governor’s transportation plan moving as soon as possible and as cost-effectively as possible. Prop. 35, the Fair Competition Initiative on the November ballot, will simply give state and local governments the option of contracting with private design and engineering firms when that is the best choice for the job – something most other states can already do. "Legal opinions from experts, including former State Attorney General John Van de Kamp and renowned local government attorney Stanley S. Taylor, agree Prop. 35 will assure California may continue to use the same selection procedures in place now, allowing immediate implementation and full use of public and private engineers throughout the state," said Larry McCarthy, president of the California Taxpayers’ Association. CalTax is a member of Taxpayers for Fair Competition, a coalition of taxpayers, businesses, labor, engineers, local governments and others supporting Prop. 35. "With money now available to allow us to ease the state’s traffic crunch, we need Prop. 35 to get all possible hands working to ease the congestion that costs our state $7.8 million a day. "These potential savings, as well as allowing the most cost-effective use of new transportation dollars, is why Prop. 35 has earned the endorsement of practically every taxpayer organization in the state." McCarthy said leaving the entire job of meeting the demands of our population growth in the hands of Caltrans would be a mistake. "Caltrans is hardly a model of efficiency," said McCarthy. "A recent study shows the agency spends more on administration than on maintenance of our roads and highways. "Caltrans has the highest engineering costs of any state in the country. Prop. 35 will allow us to contract out more engineering services and get more projects completed at greater taxpayer savings." Prop. 35 is supported by a diverse and growing coalition which includes the California State Association of Counties, Operating Engineers – Local Union #3 (AFL-CIO), California Contract Cities Association, Responsible Voters for Lower Taxes, Santa Clara County Cities Association, Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California, Coalition for Adequate School Housing, Alliance of California Taxpayers and Involved Voters, Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, California Chamber of Commerce, Bay Area Council, American Institute of Architects, California Chapter, Californians for Better Transportation and hundreds of individual school districts, cities and counties, taxpayer groups and other local organizations. |
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