With California Booming, Voters Weigh Most Bond Sales Since 2006.

With California’s finances reaping the benefits of a booming economy, voters will have a chance to decide whether to run up the government credit card to alleviate a housing crunch and pay for public works: There’s about $16.4 billion of state bonds on the November ballot, the most since 2006.

But don’t expect a surge of sales even if voters feel generous. California already has the legal power to issue about $33 billion of bonds that have yet to be sold. Some of it was approved more than 20 years ago, according to data from the treasurer’s office. California has about $74 billion in outstanding general-obligation debt.

“They’ve definitely shown themselves to really pick their spots in terms of the market on when to make their debt issuances work for them, which is not always great if you’re an investor looking for more yield,” said Dora Lee, vice president at Belle Haven Investments, which manages about $7 billion of municipal bonds.

California holds statewide elections every two years. In November 2016, voters approved $9 billion for schools, the only bond measure on the state ballot.

In November 2006, voters signed off on all bond measures totaling more than $42 billion.

Here are the four state bond measures:

Bloomberg Markets

By Romy Varghese

October 18, 2018, 8:09 AM PDT



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