(October 6, 2005) Californians Have Chance to Fix State’s Broken Budget, Political Systems
With little more than 10 weeks remaining before the November 8 special election, it is time to move beyond all the rhetoric and begin discussing the issues that will be going to a vote of the people.
Two priorities for the California Chamber of Commerce are giving Californians an opportunity to repair California’s broken budget and political systems, both elements of the Governor’s reform package.
Opponents of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are spending a great deal of time and money trying to impugn him rather than discussing the merits of his reform proposals because they can’t defend the status quo. In any credible debate, nobody could assert that California’s budget system is fine just the way it is, or that a November general election without competitive seats is real democracy.
Repair Budget System
The state’s budget system is so badly broken that it has produced budget deficits for five years in a row now. Unless we change the system, the current budget structure will continue to produce chronic deficits.
Proposition 76, the Live Within Our Means Act, is designed to cut to the heart of the problem and stabilize the state’s fiscal future. It will ensure the state never has an unmanageable budget deficit.
The measure prevents the state from spending one-time money for ongoing programs — the shortsighted error that has led to budget deficits in this decade.
Proposition 76 gives legislators and the Governor the tools they need to deal with sudden drops in revenue, such as occurred in the early 1990s. The initiative limits budget increases to the average revenue growth over three fiscal years.
The Live Within Our Means Act will bring stability to California’s finances. It requires an adequate budget reserve that will protect funding for necessary programs — including education, public safety, health and welfare, and transportation — when the inevitable economic downturns occur. It eliminates automatic reductions in education funding when state revenues decline. Finally, Proposition 76 guarantees that legislators can’t steal for unrelated programs the transportation taxes Californians pay at the pump.
Repair Political System
Just repairing the budget system, however, isn’t enough to get California government back on track. We also need to reform our political system.
In that broken system, legislators get to draw their own district lines and choose their constituents. As a result, in the November 2004 elections, not one of 153 seats in the California congressional delegation, state Senate or state Assembly changed parties.
California needs to give people throughout the state a chance to choose their elected representatives. The way to ensure they will have a choice on the general election ballot is to create more competitive political districts.
Proposition 77, the Voter Empowerment Act, will assign the task of drawing fair, competitive districts to a bipartisan, independent three-person panel of retired judges. That reform removes the inherent conflict of interest when politicians design their own districts. Reform also marks a first step toward restoring competition to the political process. Competition, in turn, will be a start toward making legislators accountable to the voters, their constituents.
Timely Action
The mound of evidence that our budget and political systems need reform will only grow larger unless we act now. The time is right for Californians to approve Proposition 76, the Live Within Our Means Act, and Proposition 77, the Voter Empowerment Act, this November.
Allan Zaremberg is president and chief executive officer of the California Chamber of Commerce. This is the first in a series of commentaries on special election measures.