Out of Control

A recent poll commissioned by the Bay Area Council found that citizens are keenly aware of the critical infrastructure needs facing the Bay Area and that they're very open to the idea of private sector infrastructure financing to help solve the problem. According to the San Francisco Chronicle:

Potholes, traffic jams, eroding levees and overcrowded schools have apparently convinced Bay Area residents it's time for major infrastructure improvements, according to a regional poll released Thursday.

The poll, by the Bay Area Council, found that 87 percent of residents surveyed thought that Bay Area governments had a serious problem maintaining schools, bridges, roads, parks, levees and hospitals and building new infrastructure.

Perhaps even more striking is the finding that a strong majority support the increased use of public-private partnerships (PPPs) to improve infrastructure:

While the poll did not ask voters whether they would be willing to raise taxes to pay for infrastructure improvements, it did ask if they would support public-private partnerships to help pay for specific types of improvements.

The partnerships, used in other states and countries, would allow such things as a private developer building a school and leasing it back to the school district, or building and operating a toll road or bridge in exchange for a portion of the revenues.

A strong majority of those surveyed said they would favor such an arrangement to fund infrastructure projects in the Bay Area, and the support varied only slightly by type of project. Hospitals and recreational facilities won the strongest backing for use of private-public partnerships with 71 percent each, followed by public transit at 70 percent, schools at 68 percent, and roads and highways at 65 percent.

One take-away from this is that Bay Area residents clearly see a problem and are open to new and innovative approaches to addressing it. Another is that even in an area regarded as a bastion of progressive thought, citizens are quite open to proven private-sector infrastructure delivery solutions.

At the political level, we know that PPPs are not a partisan issue, as evidenced by the fact that officials of all stripes are embracing them (including prominent Democrats like Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine). But it's great to see that the message is getting out to the electorate as well, with pragmatism and problem-solving clearly trumping ideology in the minds of Bay Area residents.

If the political leaders in Sacramento would hurry to catch up, then we'd really have something, as my colleague Adam Summers wrote earlier this year in the Orange County Register. And to be fair, the Legislature has started to take some steps in that direction and has a number of different PPP bills in the pipeline this session. And Governor Schwarzenegger has been quite active, criss-crossing the state touting the virtues of PPPs as part of his Performance-Based Infrastructure initiative.

Let's hope that leaders are able to come together and get something done this session, because clearly the electorate is looking for solutions.

For some recent studies exploring the potential for transportation PPPs in California, see here, here, and here. And see Bob Poole's August 2007 OC Register op-ed here. For a more comprehensive overview of the role for tolling and PPPs in transportation, see here. Lastly, Lisa Snell examines the potential for innovative school facility PPPs here.

This just in:

"Supporting marijuana use is an example of domestic terrorism – it puts the public at great risk and threatens the very fabric of our society."
--Ron Brooks, president of the National Narcotics Officers’ Association

In labeling the vast majority of Californians "terrorists," it seems that Brooks, a Californian himself, must have graduated from the same school of hyperbole as Drug Czar John Walters. If so, they couldn't have been chummy classmates, however. In an interview a year ago Brooks called for a troop surge in the War on Drugs, saying "The drug war has really faltered. It has taken a back seat to other issues under Drug Czar John Walters."

Reason’s Lisa Snell examines concerns that thousands of California teachers will soon be laid off and says, “Education officials at the state, county and local levels need to seriously look at reducing the number of professional educators who are not in classrooms. When revenues are tight, spending reductions need to be made outside of the classroom first.”

In a new column, Reason Foundation's Adam Summers takes a look at California's $16 billion budget deficit and writes, "Despite what some lawmakers would like us to believe, this is a budget crisis borne of an addiction to spending, not a revenue problem. In the past four years, the state's general fund revenues have increased approximately 32 percent. In fact, total revenue has grown steadily since the early 1990s, shortly after major tax increases were imposed under Gov. Pete Wilson's administration. Legislators intent on trying to solve their spending problem on the backs of taxpayers through tax increases would be wise to take this lesson to heart, especially considering the ongoing housing crisis and threat of economic recession."

Reason's California Research and Commentary