Proposition 71 bonds to be taxable, not tax-exempt

Reuters reported on September 5, 2007: Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar said the treasurer's office plans to sell $120 million in lease revenue bonds on Sept. 25 to fund state public works, followed by a Sept. 27 sale of $250 million in taxable general obligation bonds for the state's voter-approved stem-cell research program.

IPBiz had previously discussed the connection between taxable bonds and California receiving patent royalties in the post

State tax-exempt bonds, patent royalties, stem cells, and the IRS

Californiastemcellreport treated this matter rather cavalierly, considering that going to taxable bonds could cost California taxpayers an extra $3 billion. Well, a billion here and a billion there, and soon we are talking real money.

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The statement "A billion here...." is frequently attributed to Everett Dirksen. HOWEVER, this may be an urban legend created by a misquote of Dirksen by a newspaperman, as noted by the Dirksen Center: Update, May 25, 2004. A gentleman who called The Center with a reference question relayed that he sat by Dirksen on a flight once and asked him about the famous quote. Dirksen replied, "Oh, I never said that. A newspaper fella misquoted me once, and I thought it sounded so go that I never bothered to deny it."

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Separately, LBE attempted to post a comment on Stem Cell Bonds, Royalties and Campaign Promises mentioning among other things a previous IPBiz post on the bond issue, reproducing an op-ed in the Trenton Times by LBE.