Bond Measures on Statewide Ballots

Updated Nov. 7, 2012, 4:34am MST

Overview

A general obligation bond is essentially an IOU from the state. When you buy a G.O. bond, you are loaning money to the state, often to finance infrastructure projects. In return, the state promises to pay your loan back in a specified term, plus interest. In some states, voter approval is required before the state can issue general obligation bonds. In Maine, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Texas, there are almost always bond measures on the ballot in statewide general elections.

Statewide Bonds on the 2012 Ballot

Statewide ballots in 2012 featured 18 bonding propositions in nine states totaling just over $3.97 billion. Historical trends predicted that voters would approve about $3.2 billion, or 91 percent, of the total dollars proposed. It appears that an even higher number of bond measures have passed:  results are in on all measures except Question 2 in Maine, which is running very close but appears to be failing. If that result holds, voters will have approved $3.96 billion of the $3.97 proposed in statewide bonding, or 99.7 percent of the total. The 2012 statewide bond proposals include:
 

a) Type: L = legislative referendum; I = citizen-initiated

Voter Behavior on Bond Issues

Voters tend to be very receptive toward statewide bonds, approving 91.2 percent of the total dollars of proposed bonding on the ballot between 1998-2011. The bond measures voters rejected are most often very high-dollar proposals. For instance, in 2003, voters approved just 10.4 percent of the total dollars proposed on the ballot. There were six statewide bond proposals on the ballot that year, and voters actually approved four of the six. The two they rejected were much higher in dollar value— $2 billion in Colorado, and $500 million in Ohio. In 2008, it was another year when the percentage of dollars approved was lower than the 91.2 percent average. That year, voters actually approved 14 of the 15 bond questions on statewide ballots. The one they rejected was a $5 billion proposal in California that would have funded alternative fuel and renewable energy projects. And in 2010, when voters approved just 64.7 percent of the total proposed bonding on statewide ballots, they actually approved 10 of the 12 proposals on the ballot. The two that were rejected were a $505 million proposal in Washington and a $155.5 proposal in New Mexico. Both would have funded higher education capital improvement projects.

Total Dollars Proposed and Approved, 1992 - 2011

The following chart shows the proportion of proposed statewide bonding that is approved and rejected by voters in each year.
















 

History:  Proposed Statewide Bonds, 1998 - 2012

The following table summarizes bonding proposals that have appeared on statewide ballots between 1998 and 2012.

Source:  National Conference of State Legislatures, November  2012