REBOOTING CALIFORNIA: INITIATIVES, CONVENTIONS AND GOVERNMENT REFORM
News Headlines on California Government Reform
Last updated: September 17, 2010
Authors discuss how to fix California (09/16/2010) Orange County Register
"Joe Mathews and Mark Paul have gotten positive reviews for their book outlining sweeping reforms that could reverse the CaliforniaÕs fortunes. But donÕt expect to see either Meg Whitman or Jerry Brown pushing the state toward the path the authors have in mind."
California
Participation Project Training in LA! (09/14/2010) Common Cause
"Election Day – NOVEMBER 2 – is less than two months away! With nine propositions to consider, California voters will once again be voting on public policy at the ballot box. Do we want to suspend state laws that reduce greenhouse gas? Do we want to legalize marijuana?"
Opinion:
Redistricting reform impacts justify high spending (09/02/2010) Capitol Weekly
"As the campaign against the redistricting commission heats up, legislators and others with a stake in the current system are fighting to keep control of the line drawing process. As Capitol Weekly reporter John Howard recently pointed out in his article ÒPolitical fight over redistricting spills into the Capitol, ballot,Ó this battle between the outsiders and the insiders is becoming one of the biggest fights of the year."
California, Take Two (09/02/2010) The American Prospect
"How broken -- and broke -- is California? Let me count the ways.
The state, which is home to one of every eight Americans, ranks third among the states in the percentage of workers who are unemployed. Ten of the nation's 12 metropolitan areas where unemployment is 15 percent or higher are in California. The state's construction industry, which had underpinned the economies of both Southern California and inland California throughout most of the last decade, has lost 43 percent of its jobs since it peaked in mid-2006."
Referendum, RIP (08/30/2010) Fox & Hounds
"Joe Mathews unearthed a nugget Thursday - turns out the 99-year-old referendum power in California may have a more distant provenance than we thought, older than even the state itself."
Is the Referendum in
California Two Centuries Old (08/26/2010) Fox & Hounds
"Next year, 2011, brings the 100th anniversary of statewide initiative, referendum and recall. And the city of Los Angeles adopted direct democracy a decade before it was adopted statewide."
click here to read more here...
Putting the People Back in Direct Democracy (08/25/2010) Fox & Hounds
"Supporters of direct democracy - initiative, referendum and recall - like to go on about "The People." But the official role of the people in California's initiative process is limited."
Why You Shouldn't Vote for Governor: Interview with Mark Paul, Author of California Crackup (08/24/2010) SF Appeal
"California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It is not an easy book to read. It's the type of book where every page contains something to make you tear your hair out and beat your head against a wall. It's the type of book that makes you go off on long rants about legislative procedure to complete strangers in bars and coffee shops."
State of Embarrassment- California (08/18/2010) Miller-McCune
YouÕve Probably Heard About: The budget crisis. The worldÕs eighth-largest economy has been battered by the recent recession and not helped by a gridlocked state Legislature that faces a $20 billion budget deficit and more than $80 billion in long-term debt. Already billions have been cut from schools, and years of restrictive ballot initiatives make life even more difficult for legislators. Also, Arnold is in charge.
California Crackup Suggests Another Round of Reform to Remake California's Constitution (08/16/2010) Fox & Hounds
"In California Crackup, Joe Mathews' and Mark Paul's provocative yet breezy prescription for what ails the Golden State, the authors exhaustively survey the history of governmental and political reform that has long defined the California polity."
The #1 Global Lesson
on Direct Democracy: We Need More Time (08/12/2010) Fox & Hounds
"The 2010 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy (full disclosure: I was co-president of the event) finished up last week in San Francisco after five nights and days of discussion of initiative and referendum around the world."
Political fight over redistricting spills into the Capitol, ballot (08/12/2010) Capitol Weekly
"California voters have become all too familiar with the ferociously partisan, once-a-decade drawing of political boundaries. Even so, the 2010 election holds something new. Two wildly different measures targeting redistricting are on the ballot and an independent commission is poised to craft legislative districts for the first time."
The Coming Impacts of Social Media on Modern Direct Democracy (08/10/2010) Fox & Hounds
"The Coming Impacts of Social Media on Modern Direct Democracy
Last week our company, ActivateDirect.com, was proud to sponsor the "Technology Symposium on the Rise of Digital Direct Democracy" at the 2010 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy held at U.C. Hastings in San Francisco. As part of the Tech Symposium, I served on a really exciting panel of political technology experts from around the world discussing the impacts of the Internet, and particularly social media, on direct democracy."
The San Francisco Declaration on Direct Democracy (08/06/2010) Fox & Hounds
"Greetings from San Francisco and the 2010 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy.
We are from all corners of the world and from all walks of life. Among us are scholars, journalists, activists, petitioners, philanthropists, artists, elected officials, election administrators, non-profit managers, lawyers, businesspeople, and farmers. We are members of dozens of political parties - a truly transpartisan group."
Opinion: Clock is ticking on reform—but it's not too late (08/05/2010) Capitol Weekly
"Californians concerned about the state budget crisis
should circle a date on their calendars: Friday, August 13.
As luck would have it -- give or take a few days of wiggle room – that's
the deadline for the Governor and lawmakers to place a measure on the November
ballot. Superstitions aside, the date looms as a fateful day for budget
reform."
Citizens Redistricting Commission Welcomes Public Engagement (08/04/2010) CA Forward
"Exciting things are underway in Sacramento in the form of the Applicant Review Panel and its impact on statewide redistricting."
Book Explores Fixes for California's Broken Government (08/03/2010) KPBS
"Do you think the problems that face California are bigger Democrat versus Republican or left against right? "California Crackup" is a new book that offers some solutions. We talk to the book's co-author, Mark Paul, and UCSD Political Scientist, Thad Kousser, about what they think could fix our broken government."
audio clip + transcript: here
Many backers of strict term limits now regret it, saying they only made things worse (08/02/2010) Mercury News
"The strictest term limits in the nation, enacted 20 years ago to end the "stench of greed and vote-selling" in Sacramento, have instead made California's government so dysfunctional, many who once backed the reform say, that they now regret pushing for it."
Citizen Initiatives? (08/01/2010) KQED News: Capitol Notes
"Might one of the fixes to what ails California's ballot initiative process be a second, and separate, system of ballot measures that makes it easier for grassroots groups and ordinary citizens to compete?"
NAACP lauds latest pool for California redistricting commission (07/23/2010) Sacramento Bee
"What a difference subtraction can make.
The pool of potential members for California's redistricting commission has been narrowed to 120 applicants who roughly mirror the multicultural makeup of the state's population. It's a big change from initial pools for slots on the commission, which were overwhelmingly white men, drawing criticism from civil rights groups."
Pool for redistricting commission narrowed to
120 (07/22/2010) Sacramento Bee
"The pool of potential members for the state's legislative redistricting commission has been narrowed to 120 applicants, who will undergo personal interviews."
'Virtual constitutional convention' gets
launched online (07/22/2010) Sacramento Bee
"It's called reThinkCali.com, and it says it will "use Twitter and other social media to re-write the state's constitution, and educate and engage everyone in innovating new solutions to California's chronic problems.""
It's Time to Turn
Lemons into Lemonade in Sacramento (07/16/2010) Fox & Hounds
"Summer reruns used to be limited to network television. Now, they've taken over California politics. The Legislature's decision to leave Sacramento without a budget deal and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's minimum wage declaration for state employees are both reruns of political battles past. If there was ever a time for thinking - and acting - differently, it's now."
Taxing Our Way Toward Collapse (07/16/2010) Fox & Hounds
"In California, we spend more money a year on taxes than most spend on food, clothing, and shelter combined. As Californians we also pay some of the highest taxes in the nation, including the highest sales and income taxes. Yet Sacramento Democrats are scheming to take away even more of your hard-earned dollars to compensate for their over-spending despite a staggering $12.5 billion tax increase imposed just last year!"
Is California's government immune to reform? (07/14/2010) Stateline.org
"Arnold Schwarzenegger barely
had time to unpack the boxes in his California gubernatorial office before he
began promising to destroy the bureaucratic baggage of state government. Chosen
in a 2003 special election, the former movie actor used the occasion of his
2004 State of the State address to introduce a sweeping initiative to overhaul
the stateÕs sprawling administrative structure. "Every governor proposes moving boxes around to reorganize
government," Schwarzenegger said. "I don't want to move the boxes around; I want to blow
them up.""
FPPC plans task force to update Political Reform Act (07/07/2010) Sacramento
Bee
"The Fair Political Practices Commission plans to
create a task force to recommend updates and clarifications to the state's
lengthy and complicated campaign laws, agency Chairman Dan Schnur announced
today. "
click
here to read more...
Ethics chief lays out plan for tougher laws (07/07/2010) Los
Angeles Times
"The state law governing how political candidates finance their campaigns is outdated, unwieldy and needs to be changed, the head of the state's ethics agency said Wednesday. He announced the formation of a task force to propose revisions to the Political Reform Act some 36 years after it was approved by voters."
State of the Union(s) (07/01/2010) Fox
& Hounds
"On Wednesday, the SEIU
converged on the lawn of the State Capitol for a massive protest in their
trademark purple shirts --- screaming, shouting and chanting about a State
budget mess that they, in large part, have gotten us into."
Panel cuts redistricting commission applicant pool in
half (07/01/2010) Sacramento Bee
"A panel charged with
vetting Californians applying to be one of 14 members of the first-of-its-kind Citizens Redistricting Commission cut the remaining pool of aspiring
political map drawers in half yesterday."
Brown says state government has become ÔconstipatedÕ (07/01/2010) Los
Angeles Times
"In
an interview with CNBC Wednesday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry
Brown said he has an ambitious plan to ask voters to fundamentally alter the
relationship between Californians and their government."
Diversity and the CA Redistricting Commission (06/30/2010) Fox
& Hounds
"On Tuesday,
California's Applicant Review Panel sits down to narrow the pool of remaining
applicants. The Panel's responsibility, under the regulations adopted by the
State Auditor, include ensuring the final pool reasonably reflects California's
complex diversity."
The Buzz: Democrats, Republicans unlikely to join
forces on redistricting measures for November (06/30/2010) Sacramento Bee
"The state Democratic
and Republican parties joined forces to unsuccessfully oppose Proposition 14,
the "top-two" primary measure, but don't expect to see the same teamwork
for the November election."
Independent groups report spending nearly $17 million
on races (06/30/2010) Sacramento Bee
"The state political
watchdog agency is considering reevaluating regulations of independent expenditure committees
as a result of the continued high level and concentrated nature of spending in
the 2009-2010 cycle so far."
AM Alert: Shrinking the redistricting
panel pool (06/30/2010) Sacramento
Bee
"The pool of applicants
for the Citizens
Redistricting Commission may shrink today."
Audits find $200,000 in government waste and fraud (06/29/2010) Los Angeles Times
"Investigations
have turned up more than $200,000 in waste and fraud involving state employees
and facilities, including $70,105 paid to an inspector in the Department of
Industrial Relations while she did private work during her state work hours,
the state auditor reported Monday."
New campaign disclosure rules sought for budget
season (06/28/2010) Los Angeles Times
"Lawmakers
would have to immediately disclose money raised during peak legislative
deadlines under a measure approved by the state Senate on Monday."
The
'LegisWeb Eye' Legislative Web Portal Lunches on July 1 (06/28/2010) Fox
& Hounds
"The 'LegisWeb Eye' is a new legislative
information service, launching on July 1st. The LegisWeb Eye presents news,
opinion, discussion, and the latest official status on the policies of the
State of California. People who are interested in the developing laws of
California will get concise summaries from multiple points of view. News is
gathered from dozens of respected sources. Diverse opinions from
Fox&Hounds, other prominent bloggers and columnists, and the politicians
that represent California are presented together. Links are provided back to
the sources for the complete stories."
TimeÕs Up for Term Limits (06/27/2010) Miller-McCune
"A law professor who
studies CaliforniaÕs legal history argues that the Golden StateÕs experiment in
term limits — which he originally supported — has failed."
Big redistricting battle looms this fall (6/25/2010) Sacramento
Bee
"California voters will
be pummeled this fall by both sides of a complex, high-stakes political battle
over how the state's legislative, congressional and Board of Equalization seats
are divvied up for the next decade."
Redistricting Pool Mostly Affluent White Male
Democrats (6/22/2010) Sacramento Bee
"The 620 remaining
applicants for seats on the state's new redistricting commission are mostly
affluent white male Democrats, according to a new statistical study by one of
those on the list."
White, Male Democrats Dominate Redistricting Pool (6/22/2010) Orange
County Register
"The 620 semi-finalists
for the California Citizens Redistricting Commission are disproportionately
white, male and Democrat, according to an analysis by Vladimir Kogan, who is
among commission applicants and is a research fellow at Stanford
University."
The California Super-Majority Stays Home (6/18/2010) California
Progress Report
"The most trenchant
analysis of this monthÕs primary election results didnÕt come from CaliforniaÕs
certified media punditry and its blather about angry voters, but from my friend
and former colleague Mark Paul of the New America Foundation, who offered a
much more disturbing read."
Ballot measures in limbo as November ballot deadline
looms (06/17/2010) Capitol Weekly
"A measure to change
the stateÕs term-limits law failed to qualify for the November ballot, and is
likely to go before voters in 2012. The measure would allow lawmakers to serve
12 years in either legislative house and do away with the current limits of
three two-year Assembly terms and two four-year Senate terms. The measure is
backed by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles County
Federation of Labor. It is opposed by U.S. Term Limits."
Dan Walters: California legislators again pulling
election strings (6/15/2010) Sacramento Bee
"It's not exactly news
that from time to time, the Legislature attempts to manipulate the outcome of
elections.
Commonly, the Legislature,
when approving bond issues and other ballot measures, writes official titles
and summaries – and sometimes controls ballot arguments – in ways
to make them more likely to pass, rather than leaving those chores to someone
else."
Courts Grants Review of Line-Item Veto Case (6/12/2010) The
California Constitution
"The Supreme Court
granted review Wednesday in St. John's Well Child and Family Center v.
Schwarzenegger which poses the question of whether the Governor has the
power to veto a legislative reduction of a previously-enacted budget
appropriation."
State Supreme Court to review worker furloughs (6/10/2010) San
Francisco Chronicle
"The state Supreme
Court said Wednesday that it would review two of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's
moves to slash state spending without legislative approval - cutting nearly
$500 million from the budget and furloughing 200,000 state employees three days
a month."
Complaint in AGÕs race shines light on
outdated election laws
(5/30/2010) Contra Costa Times
"Drop
a phrase like "exercising my stock options" in a Silicon Valley
boardroom, and most people will nod knowingly. But in the political arena?
Expect to explain yourself.
In an election year that's
already seen an unprecedented infusion of personal wealth, how to treat modern
investment mechanisms has emerged as another challenge for ethics watchdogs
charged with making sure the hundreds of millions spent in California politics
are all aboveboard."
Needed: A Plan for Predictability (5/26/2010) Fox
& Hounds
"I was in Washington DC
recently and spoke with a couple of venture capitalists who work in California.
Each reported seeing other venture capital firms move employees out of our
state.
The problem, they said, was
that California had become too unpredictable."
"Has California's
recession-wracked economy finally touched bottom and begun to recover?
The consensus among
government and private economists who chart the world's eighth-largest economy
appears to be a qualified "yes" – qualified because even if
recovery has begun, they also believe it will be slow, especially in employment."
California political ethics and disclosure rules lag
behind financial realities (5/22/2010)
Los Angeles Times
"Politicians weren't
getting rich off "secondary market" stock option sales and limited
partnerships in secretive hedge funds when California voters approved some of
the country's most comprehensive ethics rules."