California Proposition 156 (1992)
From Ballotpedia
California Proposition 156, also known as the Passenger Rail and Clean Air Bond Act of 1992, was on the November 3, 1992 ballot in California as a legislatively-referred state statute, where it was defeated.
- Yes: 4,910,982 (48.11%)
- No: 5,296,753 (51.89%)
Proposition 156 would have provided for a bond issue of $1 billion to provide funds for acquisition of rights-of-way, capital expenditures, and acquisitions of rolling stock for intercity rail, commuter rail, and rail transit programs.
Fiscal impact
The fiscal estimate provided by the California Legislative Analyst's Office said:
- Direct Costs of Paying Off the Bonds. For these types of bonds, the state makes principal and interest payments from the state's General Fund usually over a period of about 20 years. If the $1 billion in bonds were sold at an interest rate of 7 percent, the cost would be about $1.7 billion to pay off both the principal ($1 billion) and interest ($735 million). The average payment for principal and interest would be about $87 million per year.
- Future Rail Operating Costs. Fare revenues typically cover only a portion of the operating costs of passenger rail services. Therefore, where these bond funds are used to expand passenger rail services, additional state and local operating funds will be necessary. These additional costs are unknown, but could be in the tens of millions of dollars annually.
Path to ballot
The California State Legislature voted to put Proposition 156 on the ballot in Assembly Bill 973 (Statutes of 1989, Chapter 108).
