Wilson Vetoes Bill to Allow New Funding Method for Libraries

SACRAMENTO —  For the second year in a row, Gov. Pete Wilson on Friday vetoed a bill to give libraries a new funding mechanism that supporters said was desperately needed.

The bill, authored by state Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys), would have allowed local officials to levy a benefit assessment on property owners if a majority approved it in a local election.

Wilson called the proposal a tax masquerading as a benefit assessment, and said it should be subject to the same two-thirds vote requirement as all new taxes.

The money could have been used to keep existing libraries open or build new ones.

Library supporters statewide were hoping for Wilson’s signature on the bill, but it was Los Angeles County officials who approached Roberti to ask him to carry the measure.

“I am profoundly disappointed by the governor’s veto,” Roberti said in a statement. “With (libraries) comes not only personal growth, but commercial growth as well.”

Arguing that Wilson’s veto in the end will hurt California’s economic position, Roberti said, “The net result is that more students will get to spend their non-school hours watching TV or playing video games. And we wonder why we’re not competitive?”

Although Roberti said he made a number of concessions to concerns Wilson voiced in last year’s veto, the governor still objected to the bill’s basic idea--that having a library in the community is enough to justify making property owners pay a special benefit assessment.

Before levying a new benefit assessment, the county needs to win approval of only a simple majority of voters. But a new tax requires a “yes” vote of two-thirds of the voters.