The reason you haven't seen any discussion about alternate uses for the money is because they're irrelevant.  They wanted a very large pool of money in which they could dip their beaks, long and hard, and they wanted to create another government employee union, AKA 'HART'.  It's what Dems do, and they could care less how you feel about it.  They know you won't do anything to oust them from their positions, and they like the $$.  Of course some of us in the real world would have like to see our sewer system get re-built, so we quit dumping sewage into our near shore water.  Regular dumpings have closed beaches on a regular basis, but still those local politicians could care less. How many cases of flush-eating bacteria, and staph infections are needed to stop the pollution?