First let's make big changes in Legislature

Posted at 12:00 AM on Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

There aren't many people who think state government is operating properly, but the disagreement comes when you start discussing how to fix it. While the reform movement in California has many champions, it has no real direction.

There are calls for a constitutional convention and several groups are proposing initiatives to revamp state government. Some are big changes, such as the call for a part-time legislature, and some tweak the system, such as lowering the requirement to pass a state budget to a simple majority.

I'm for bold changes that make the politicians run for the tall grass. State government is such a mess that minor changes only encourage inept lawmakers. They are the ones who ran the once honorable California Legislature into the side of a mountain.

We need to get their attention, and you can't do that by being the politicians' friend. So down-size the Legislature by making it a part-time job and get rid of the Assembly and Senate and have only one legislative house.

Go large and then we can think about smaller structural changes. After all, the big changes don't have to do much to improve on what we have now.

How bad could it be? Maybe a part-time legislature couldn't get a balanced budget passed and the state controller would have to pay bills with IOUs. So we'd have the same thing we have now -- only at half the cost. But I think the part-timers would be a lot more concerned about doing their jobs instead of looking for another office to seek, which is a key problem in the current system.

But then I talk to people who have studied this issue for a long time, and they argue that in a state as complex as California incremental changes are the only way to go. Beware of the unintended consequences of big changes, they say.

Robert Hertzberg, former speaker of the Assembly and now co-chairman of a nonpartisan reform group called California Forward, says Californians are angry and frustrated about state government. But he adds that changes must be effective and have a chance of winning at the ballot box.

That's why California Forward is pushing two initiatives next year. The first would change the budget process, including reducing the requirement to pass a budget from two-thirds of the members of each house to a simple majority. The proposal also includes a two-year budget cycle.

The second measure would "stop the war" on local government, according to Hertzberg. It would prevent the state from "borrowing or diverting" local government funding, and give local officials more of a say in establishing community priorities. If the county, for example, partnered with the city and schools on a community action plan, the agencies could ask voters to approve a 1 cent increase in the sales tax by a simple majority vote.

Hertzberg says California Forward will ask the Legislature to put the items on next November's ballot as a package. If lawmakers refuse, the group has filed the measures and will be gathering signatures as a backup to getting the proposal on the ballot.

California Forward also thinks the term limits law needs to be loosened up, and is supporting a separate proposal that would give lawmakers the choice of serving 12 years in a single house. The law now limits lawmakers to a maximum of six years in the Assembly and eight years in the Senate.

The political problem for California Forward is that opponents will undoubtedly claim that the measures would make it easier to increase taxes. That's an argument that California Forward will have to deal with in the campaign.

I think my idea of a part-time legislature is one that voters would embrace. It's easy to understand and would be real reform.