Sunday, October 23, 2005
Election Woes: Proposition 76
This is another of The Arnold’s proposed “reforms” that I oppose. Our Governor, together with all former living Governors, complain that the legislature is slow to act, can not pass the annual budget on time, and seems at times unable to balance expenditures with revenue.
The Governors are correct. The people of California, in their infinite wisdom (?) have hobbled the state legislature by imposing a 2/3 vote requirement to enacting taxes and passing the annual budget. This hobbling makes it difficult for the legislature to do its work. Recent experience shows that it can not pass a budget on schedule. The minority party holds out for concessions that would not even be considered if a simple majority voter were sufficient to pass the budget. A result is that many unnecessary programs are approved and some necessary ones are rejected to get enough members of the legislative houses to provide the required 2/3 vote. Some political scientists say that the state is ungovernable.
Proposition 76 does not do a damned thing to fix the problem. It simply empowers the Governor to bypass the legislature altogether whenever the anticipated revenue doesn’t match the estimate in the budget. Here is the official summary in the ballot pamphlet published by the California Secretary of State:
State Spending and School Funding Limits.
Initiative Constitutional Amendment.
Note particularly the second bullet. In spite of the clear language that repeals the guaranteed funding of public education provided by Proposition 98, the Governor and his allies claim that the measure will increase the money available for education.
I am angry at Mr. Schwarzenegger. I had a small amount of hope that he would try to govern at least as a “centrist.” Shortly after he took office there was a ballot initiative that would have reduced the 2/3 voter requirement to 11/20, still a supermajority but closer to a simple majority of one-half the members plus one. He opposed it. At the same time he pushed initiatives to re-fund the state’s debt and to give him additional power to cut spending. Gradually it has become apparent to every Californian that Arnold Schwarzenegger is no centrist. He is a hard line conservative Republican, very much like Bush but without the Christian fundamentalist baggage. The state doesn’t take in enough revenue to fund all the services that the people of the state expect. He rejects the possibility of increasing the revenue. Instead, he proposes reducing the amount and quality of the services. Provide less money for schools. Provide less money for public health and safety.
The State of Colorado enacted a similar measure a few years ago. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, published on October 23, the conservative Governor of Colorado is now begging the people to repeal the budget cap. The cap requires the State to reduce funding for education and other services, even though the State is now taking in plenty of revenue to fund these services fully. The excess is mailed back to the taxpayers. It seems that the people of Colorado prefer tax refunds to good schools and universities.
Enough ranting. Read the ballot pamphlet. Go to the California Secretary of State website www.ss.ca.gov/ and read about proposition 76 yourself. I am too angry to go on.
The Governors are correct. The people of California, in their infinite wisdom (?) have hobbled the state legislature by imposing a 2/3 vote requirement to enacting taxes and passing the annual budget. This hobbling makes it difficult for the legislature to do its work. Recent experience shows that it can not pass a budget on schedule. The minority party holds out for concessions that would not even be considered if a simple majority voter were sufficient to pass the budget. A result is that many unnecessary programs are approved and some necessary ones are rejected to get enough members of the legislative houses to provide the required 2/3 vote. Some political scientists say that the state is ungovernable.
Proposition 76 does not do a damned thing to fix the problem. It simply empowers the Governor to bypass the legislature altogether whenever the anticipated revenue doesn’t match the estimate in the budget. Here is the official summary in the ballot pamphlet published by the California Secretary of State:
State Spending and School Funding Limits.
Initiative Constitutional Amendment.
- Limits state spending to prior year’s level plus three previous years’ average revenue growth.
- Changes state minimum school funding requirements (Proposition 98); eliminates repayment requirement when minimum funding suspended.
- Excludes appropriations above the minimum from schools’ funding base.
- Directs excess General Fund revenues, currently directed to schools/tax relief, to budget reserve, specified construction, debt repayment.
- Permits Governor, under specified circumstances, to reduce appropriations of Governor’s choosing, including employee compensation/state contracts.
- Continues prior year appropriations if state budget delayed.
- Prohibits state special funds borrowing.
- Requires payment of local government mandates.
Note particularly the second bullet. In spite of the clear language that repeals the guaranteed funding of public education provided by Proposition 98, the Governor and his allies claim that the measure will increase the money available for education.
I am angry at Mr. Schwarzenegger. I had a small amount of hope that he would try to govern at least as a “centrist.” Shortly after he took office there was a ballot initiative that would have reduced the 2/3 voter requirement to 11/20, still a supermajority but closer to a simple majority of one-half the members plus one. He opposed it. At the same time he pushed initiatives to re-fund the state’s debt and to give him additional power to cut spending. Gradually it has become apparent to every Californian that Arnold Schwarzenegger is no centrist. He is a hard line conservative Republican, very much like Bush but without the Christian fundamentalist baggage. The state doesn’t take in enough revenue to fund all the services that the people of the state expect. He rejects the possibility of increasing the revenue. Instead, he proposes reducing the amount and quality of the services. Provide less money for schools. Provide less money for public health and safety.
The State of Colorado enacted a similar measure a few years ago. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, published on October 23, the conservative Governor of Colorado is now begging the people to repeal the budget cap. The cap requires the State to reduce funding for education and other services, even though the State is now taking in plenty of revenue to fund these services fully. The excess is mailed back to the taxpayers. It seems that the people of Colorado prefer tax refunds to good schools and universities.
Enough ranting. Read the ballot pamphlet. Go to the California Secretary of State website www.ss.ca.gov/ and read about proposition 76 yourself. I am too angry to go on.
