This week, California lawmakers will consider whether to add a ballot measure for the 2018 election. The state Assembly is scheduled to vote on its first bill this session—a $3 billion parks bond.
A 2015 state report found almost 40 percent of Californians don’t have adequate access to parks. Democratic Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia is the bond bill’s author, and he says rural and inner city communities especially need more parks.
"They have an important health component to it, they have a very important public safety aspect to it," Garcia says. "Organized sports bring a tremendous amount of opportunities for families and young people to have some kind of structured activity that teaches discipline, respect, team work."
About a third of the bond money would fund improvements in communities with few parks, while the rest would go toward state parks and coastal protection.
Last year, some Republicans opposed a similar measure, arguing bond payments could outlast improvements. That bill stalled at the end of session.
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