The worst has come to pass. We voted down everything. Our state began issuing promissory notes yesterday. Those who don’t think very hard about it blame “the legislators.” Really, though, it’s everyone’s fault, the state legislature, the governor and their constituents — us.
I say we call a legislative convention. Here’s how my fantasy works:
(Quietly, no publicity)
1. Redraw the state’s legislative districts into 40 and 20 districts equal by population, no funny shapes except as dictated by topography.
2. Repeal the 1933 two-thirds rule for passing state budgets, and the language from Propositions 13 and 98, all of which strangle our ability to make revenues balance out costs.
(As much publicity as possible now)
3. Either a cage match or a battle royal between legislators. The order of entrance to the ring would be determined either by random number generator or by drawing straws. The last person standing gets to be the Governor. This is to be broadcast on California’s PBS affiliates.
4. Have a statewide election for the new districts.
If only.
Have a happy Independence Day weekend, everyone!
July 3, 2009 at 2:20 pm
You also need to ban the unions that are holding your state hostage.
July 3, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Labor unions in and of themselves aren’t holding the state hostage. Sometimes union members aren’t being represented by their unions because the unions aren’t being led by members — people with an actual stake in the collective bargaining process. As such, some of the more famous unions have been engaging in battles that aren’t always in the best interests for all workers.
The largest of the large have easy access to the ballot initiative process, which is how we ended up with Prop. 98, which was a clear response to Prop. 13. Once our property taxes were so limited that we could no longer use them at the local level to fund schools, we had to look for state-level solutions. California’s schools went from near the top in educational quality and funding to near the bottom, and the political climate became ripe for the CTA to start an initiative requiring 40 percent of the state’s General Fund to be spent on K-12 education.
We need leaders who are willing to make small concessions so more people can remain working, sharing a light portion of the burden instead of being laid off completely.