Bill to Fund Olympic Training Center in S.D. Goes to Assembly

SACRAMENTO — The state Senate has approved use of $15 million in state funds to help develop an Olympic training facility near San Diego, despite claims that the money could be better used for other programs.

The upper house, by a 28-4 vote, on Thursday sent SB 1403 by Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) to the Assembly.

The measure would authorize the payment of $15 million to the San Diego National Sports Training Foundation over three years, if the foundation raises an equal amount.

The state is supposed to recover the funds, plus interest, through the sale of $100 commemorative Olympic license plates to California motorists, according to Campbell’s proposal.

Campbell described the bill as an “exciting opportunity for California to take the lead in providing unsurpassed training and support for athletes to compete in national and international competition.”

He said the facility would be the third in the country but the only one aimed at training for the summer games.

Sen. Dan McCorquodale, D-San Jose, complaining about cuts in mental health programs, suggested there were better ways to use the money.

Sens. Ed Davis (R-Northridge) and Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) suggested that the city and county of San Diego should guarantee repayment of the money.

“It’s not really a loan; it’s a gift. It seems to me that this is the wrong way to go,” Rosenthal said, claiming there was enough money raised by the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles to help pay for the training facility.