U.S. voters OK bonds for cancer research, highways

Last Updated: 2007-11-07 13:00:50 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Anastasija Johnson

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Texas voters approved all statewide bond measures on Tuesday's ballot, including $3 billion for a state cancer institute, but New Jersey rejected borrowing $450 million for stem cell research, initial election results showed on Wednesday.

U.S. voters were asked to approve about $29 billion of bond sales, which would also pay for road improvements, school construction and land preservation.

More than two thirds of this proposed debt was in Texas, which had five statewide bond measures totaling $9.75 billion and a flurry of large local issues, mostly for schools.

As expected, Texas voters supported $5 billion of bonds for highways, $1 billion of bonds for improving state facilities, $500 million of bonds to fund education loans and $250 million for economic development. They also okayed tax relief measures.

The $3 billion cancer research proposal backed by Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry was seen as an alternative to controversial embryonic stem cell research, which helped it win approval in the socially conservative state.

"Everyone has a stake in the fight against cancer and Texans have taken matters into their own hands by passing Proposition 15, funding 10 years of cancer research in our state," Perry said in a statement.

New Jersey voters rejected $450 million of bonds for stem cell research, which Democratic Gov. John Corzine was pushing. Polls had indicated the measure would pass narrowly.

New Jersey voters also rejected a proposal to dedicate half a cent of the current sales tax to property tax relief, but they did approve $200 million of borrowing to preserve parks, fish and wildlife habitat and land that protects water supplies.

"I think this is a very curious referenda, very curious voting," said Alan Rosenthal, public policy professor, at New Brunswick, N.J.-based Rutgers University. "They vote for open spaces, issuing bonds there, but won't vote for stem cell research and don't vote to give property owners back tax relief."

County and city voters in Denver approved about $430 million of bonds for transportation, parks, cultural facilities, public safety and libraries.

Maine's statewide bond measures all were passed. Voters okayed a total of $134 million of bonds for research and development, campus improvements and land conservation, but they rejected a tribal commercial track and slot machines in Washington County and a proposal to expand legislative term limits.

There were 34 statewide ballot questions in six states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In Oregon, voters rejected an 84.5 cent tobacco tax increase to fund health care for children, but approved Measure 49 that scales back development restrictions approved in 2004.

In Texas, voters said governments should sell property acquired through eminent domain but not used for public purposes back to the previous owner at the original price.

Utah voters rejected education vouchers. Washington voters spurned a constitutional amendment to eliminate a super-majority vote requirement for school district tax increases.

Washington voters approved statewide referendums to require a two-thirds vote by legislature for fee increases and a constitutional amendment requiring 1 percent of general state revenue for each fiscal year to be placed in a budget stabilization account.