Sizing Up the Challenge: California's Infrastructure Needs and Tradeoffs

The California 2025 project www.ca2025.org, conducted with support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, addresses issues that will affect the state of the State in 2025. The Technical Report series provides more information on topics discussed in chapters of the project's major report, California The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) is a private operating foundation established in 1994 with an endowment from William R. Hewlett. The Institute is dedicated to improving public policy in California through independent, objective, nonpartisan research. PPIC's research agenda focuses on three program areas: population, economy, and governance and public finance. Studies within these programs are examining the underlying forces shaping California's future, cutting across a wide range of public policy concerns, including education, health care, immigration, income distribution, welfare, urban growth, and state and local finance. PPIC was created because three concerned citizens – William R. Hewlett, Roger W. Heyns, and Arjay Miller – recognized the need for linking objective research to the realities of California public policy. Their goal was to help the state's leaders better understand the intricacies and implications of contemporary issues and make informed public policy decisions when confronted with challenges in the future. Short sections of text, not to exceed three paragraphs, may be quoted without written permission provided that full attribution is given to the source and the above copyright notice is included. PPIC does not take or support positions on any ballot measure or on any local, state, or federal legislation, nor does it endorse, support, or oppose any political parties or candidates for public office. Research publications reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff, officers, or Board of Directors of the Public Policy Institute of California. Summary Since the mid-1990s, a number of reports have argued that California is jeopardizing its future by investing too little on basic public infrastructure. We revisit this question, with a focus on three main sectors – schools, water, and transportation. We argue for nuance in characterizing the state's public investment challenges. In many cases, cost-saving innovations and incentives to encourage efficient use of services provide opportunities to meet the needs of a growing population without vast new sums of public spending. In others, recent innovations in funding have enabled us to meet social goals. In K-12 education, voter support for state and local bonds since 2000 has gone a long …