California

There’s a Proposition 25?

Mckenzee McCammack

After examining the budget issues discussed on the October 13th, it is clear that the passage of the budget is pressing problem for California. As a result, Californian lawmakers brought Proposition 25 to the voters. The California legislature believes the California constitution is in, large part, responsible for the budgetary problems. Specifically, the constitution states there must be a 2/3rds majority in order to pass the budget, as opposed to a simple majority. This means that if there are 100 legislators, 60 of them must agree upon a budget. In politics, this is difficult to achieve. However, prop 25 would change the charter to require a simple majority, or 50% plus 1, to pass the budget. Another stipulation of this proposition would be to forfeit pay in the years that legislators fail to pass a budget on time. This amounts to approximately $50,000 per legislator per late day.

Pros:

• Less gridlock in the California legislature.
• Prevents rigorous spending before the budget is passed in an effort to push personal legislative agendas.
• Saves tax payer money by withholding the legislature’s pay as incentive to pass the budget.

Cons:

• Creates financial pressure upon the legislature to pass the budget, which could compromise the effectiveness of the budget.
• Opposes the purpose of the original 2/3rds majority rule, which was set up by the California framers.
• Isolates one political party from having a say in the budget, which could ultimately allow tyranny of the majority.

Additional Reading:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-poll-20101025,0,1234526.story

http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_25,_Majority_Vote_for_Legislature_to_Pass_the_Budget_(2010)

http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/initiatives/pdfs/i854_initiative_09-0057.pdf