Providing low-interest state loans to veterans to purchase a home or farm is a tradition that stretches back almost 90 years in California. Since 1922, Californians have voted 26 times to pass bond measures to aid veterans, and this year it has expanded to benefit even more former service men and women.
According to the Sacramento Bee, the bond measure would provide loans to 3,600 hundred additional veterans. The loans will be paid back, in principle and interest, in easy monthly payments.
Because of the nature of the program, it will cost taxpayers virtually nothing. That is, unless the “mortgage payments made by veterans fail to cover the state's annual debt service, which is estimated at $59 million a year for 30 years for the $900 million in principal and $856 million in interest.” It is a small price to pay, and the chance of this happening is minimal.
In fact, the loans will allow a boost in the economy through increasing jobs in the housing industry.
The entire California Legislature voted unanimously to put this on the ballot, and it would be a service to those who devoted a part of their lives to serving our country.