The state Legislature deserves every bit of the criticism it gets for the state's rising debt, but voters have had a hand in the disaster.

California voters have rejected only two of the last 17 bond measures that have appeared on the ballot, adding billions of dollars in annual payments to the state budget.

Bonds are a valid method of making large capital investments, and sometimes the only way to finance major infrastructure projects, such as schools and highways. But timing is everything, and we think it's unwise to add more bills when the state already can't balance its checkbook.

Though the cause is worthy, we think voters should reject Proposition 55.

Proposition 55 is a $12.3 billion school bond, which would help build new schools and classrooms and repair old ones statewide. Most of the money ($10 billion) would be distributed to K-12 schools, but community colleges and universities also would benefit.

If the bond sounds familiar, it should be. About 15 months ago, state voters approved a $13.05 billion school bond with 59 percent of the vote. At the time, it was the largest state bond ever on a ballot (eclipsed this year by Proposition 57, which is on the March 2 ballot).

Proposition 55 is part two of the two-part question posed to voters. If it fails, it automatically would be placed on the November general election ballot. That makes more sense to us. Perhaps by then the budget picture will have improved, particularly if Proposition 57, a deficit-reduction bond, is approved by voters.

Proponents of the bond say Proposition 55 does not raise taxes. Technically, that's true. But the bond would require an average payment for principal and interest of $823 million per year for 30 years. That $823 million annually doesn't come out of thin air. It only adds to the state's multibillion-dollar debt. And if the state can't afford to pay the bond debt projected at roughly $5 billion annually within three years tax hikes are sure to follow.

Bonds are a useful tool, but voters need to be judicious about approving them. Though school bonds, in our estimation, are the best possible use of bond spending for infrastructure, we don't believe voters should approve them whenever they appear on a ballot. Voters should do what legislators haven't done show some spending restraint when times are tight.

Vote no on Proposition 55, and hope for better fiscal times when the same bond appears on the ballot in seven months.