Voters Embrace Bonds, Passing 83% in Early Results (Update1)

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Voters in states led by California embraced municipal debt as they approved about $39.7 billion of new borrowing, representing about 83 percent of measures for which results were available. Californians approved at least $27 billion, including money for schools and loans to veterans.

Voters in 41 states from Rhode Island to Alaska considered $66.4 billion of bond proposals yesterday, the second-biggest slate after November 2006's $78.6 billion, according to Ipreo, a New York-based financial data provider. The measures sought the largest amount of new borrowing during a presidential election.

So far, taxpayers assented to most of the $47 billion in proposals for which results were immediately available, as they shrugged off economic woes to affirm their support for public works and infrastructure. On average, voters have approved 82 percent of the debt proposed at November general elections the past 10 years, according to Ipreo figures.

``Voters generally, under most circumstances and in most elections, tend to be overwhelming receptive to bond proposals,'' said Jennie Drage Bowser, a policy analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

California had the largest referendum, $9.95 billion in funding for a high-speed train network, with proposals around the state totaling almost $42 billion.

Voters statewide favored the rail plan by 52.4 percent to 47.6 percent, with 90.9 percent of precincts counted, according to the California Secretary of State's Web site. They also approved selling bonds to fund mortgages for veterans and to improve children's hospitals, while rejecting a bond proposal, 60 percent to 40 percent, for alternative-energy development.

In Los Angeles County, voters approved $7 billion of debt for repairs to its largest public school system and $3.5 billion for the nation's largest system of community colleges.

John Matsusaka, executive director of the University of Southern California's Initiative and Referendum Institute in Los Angeles, had suggested the contracting U.S. economy and slump in consumer spending may sour taxpayers' appetite for debt.

``I thought voters would say, `We don't want to borrow because these are tough times coming,' but I guess not,'' Matsusaka said.

Following is a list of yesterday's 25 largest U.S. municipal bond elections, along with other statewide debt initiatives:

California                         $11.8 billion       Pass
                                   $5 billion          Fail
Los Angeles USD                    $7 billion          Pass
Los Angeles CCD                    $3.5 billion        Pass
San Diego USD                      $2.1 billion        Pass
Columbus, Ohio                     $1.7 billion        Pass
Long Beach USD, California         $1.2 billion        Pass
East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana $989 million        Fail
San Francisco                      $887 million        Pass
Santa Clara County, California     $840 million        Pass
Dallas County, Texas               $747 million        Pass
Center USD, California             $500 million        Pass
East Bay Regional Park District, California
                                   $500 million        Pass
Victor Valley UHSD, California     $500 million
Los Rios CCD, California           $475 million
Denver SD No. 1                    $454 million
Grossmont UHSD, California         $417 million
Ohio                               $400 million        Pass
Pennsylvania                       $400 million        Pass
Douglas County SD, Colorado        $395 million
Southwestern CCD, California       $389 million
Peoria, Arizona                    $378 million
Portland CCD, Oregon               $374 million
Long Beach, California             $371 million
Sedgwick County USD No. 259 in Wichita, Kansas
                                   $370 million
Prince George's County, Maryland   $362 million

Other statewide ballots:
Alaska                             $315 million
Arkansas                           $300 million
New Mexico                         $224 million
Rhode Island                       $90 million
Maine                              $3.4 million

SD School District
USD Unified School District
CCD Community College District
UHSD Union High School District

To contact the reporters on this story: Darrell Preston in Dallas at dpreston@bloomberg.net; Michael B. Marois in Sacramento at mmarois@bloomberg.net.