Bond Freeze Update
As of June 1, slight progress had been made toward a gradual release of some voter-approved bond money that was frozen by the State on December 18, 2008. However, the paralysis of California’s restoration economy continued. In light of the State’s worsening budget crisis, no sound predictions were possible at press time as to when interrupted projects might resume or new projects might be considered for approval.

The freeze on bond-fund spending was imposed after the Pooled Money Investment Board, which consists of the director of finance, controller, and treasurer, found that the State might run out of money by February 2009 if the legislative stalemate continued. Without a budget, California would no longer be able to cover obligations. So the Board decided to put an immediate stop to all spending of voter-approved bond funds, a total of over $3.8 billion committed to some 2,000 projects statewide. These were projects to improve schools, transportation, and environmental infrastructure. All work was stopped as of December 18.

Since then, the sale of some bonds in the spring made it possible for the Coastal Conservancy to begin paying invoices for work completed before the freeze was imposed. The release of funds from Proposition 12, 40, and 50 bonds to restart a limited number of existing projects was approved by the State Treasurer’s Office on May 22. The Conservancy anticipates that funds from the sales of Proposition 84 bonds will be available soon.

The release of these funds, which include federal economic stimulus funds, have yet to be confirmed, but might allow some large wetland and infrastructure projects to restart before summer’s end. It’s likely to be a while before State bond funds become available for new projects.

State Parks Visitors Spend Billions
The economy gets a boost of about $4.32 billion a year from visitors to California state parks, a survey conducted by Sacramento State University’s Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration suggests. That’s the estimated total spent by the 74.9 million people that State Parks estimates visit its 279 parks each year, for items and services ranging from groceries and other supplies to lodging, food, gas, auto repairs, and equipment rentals.

The estimate is based on preliminary results of the survey, conducted by faculty and students under supervision of Professor David Rolloff. From fall 2007 to February 2009, they interviewed 9,700 visitors at 27 parks around the state and found that the average spent per person was $57.63 per visit: $24.63 inside the park and in nearby communities, and $33 in communities more than 25 miles from the park. People from out of state (11.95 percent of those surveyed) spent an average $184.91 per person, or $1.66 billion per year.

"The numbers were kind of shocking to us, they were so huge," said Rolloff. Complete results will be released later this year, he said, but the information about spending "was so significant, we felt it was worth releasing ahead of time." The survey was commissioned and funded by State Parks.