California voters have approved billions of dollars in bonds. Why don’t we track results?

California voters have approved tens of billions of dollars in bond measures over the past quarter century to build schools, improve water systems, and tackle climate risks. But according to CalMatters, the state has struggled to answer a basic question: did those investments actually deliver the promised results? Since two thousand, California has issued one hundred ninety-six billion dollars in general obligation bonds, with eighty-one point eight billion dollars currently outstanding. While the state meticulously tracks how bond money is spent, it rarely measures whether projects achieved their intended outcomes. Assembly Bill seventeen fifty-four, authored by Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco, would change that. The bill would require statewide bond measures to define clear objectives and publicly report on whether investments met those goals — in a simple, one or two-page format. Proponents argue that outcome tracking won't slow projects or add bureaucracy; rather, it naturally flows from defining what bonds are meant to accomplish, building public confidence in future measures.

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