Frustrated Californians told Sacramento to clean up its governing act last night, approving two ballot measures aimed at imposing new budget discipline on lawmakers.
But the complicated interaction of Propositions 25 and 26 may further snarl the budget making process.
Prop. 25 decreases the vote needed in the state legislature to pass the budget from two-thirds to a simple majority, a move its sponsors had hoped would expedite the passage of a budget each year. Prop. 26 increases the vote needed to pass fees from a simple majority to two-thirds. Actual tax increases already require a two thirds vote.
“You can pass a budget but you can’t raise any revenue, whatsoever,” said Fred Glass, spokesman for the California Federation of Teachers, Prop. 25’s main sponsor.
The Prop. 26 campaign, whose slogan was “Stop Hidden Taxes,” was framed around its opposition to Prop. 25. The campaign claimed Prop. 25 would surreptitiously raise taxes despite an explicit statement in the measure that it would not. In August, the Third District Court of Appeals ruled that Prop 25’s language reflected its intent.
Among the nine measures on the California ballot, only two others – Propositions 20 and 22 appeared to be winning, both also aimed at checking the power of state lawmakers. Prop. 20 removes the legislature from the congressional redistricting process. Prop. 22 prohibits the state from taking funding from local governments.
“The vote in favor of Prop. 22 was a loud and clear message to
Sacramento lawmakers for them to do their jobs and keep their hands
off our funding,” said Doug Fry, president of the League of California
Cities Fire Department, one of campaign’s sponsors.
For Prop 20, the message to lawmakers was to keep their hands off of
district lines, too. “We want to be able to vote for our elected officials in fair
districts,” said Susan Shafer, spokeswoman for the Prop 20 campaign.
Voters defeated Prop 23, a measure backed largely by out of state oil companies that would have suspended California’s tough, new law requiring reductions in greenhouse gasses. Prop 27, a measure that would have abolished a new citizens commission on redistricting and returned the power to the legislature, was also defeated.
Legalized recreational weed in California will have to wait for another election cycle. Prop. 19, a measure that would have made the state the first in the country to ok the sale and consumption of marijuana, was headed for defeat, failing to produce the surge of young voters its sponsors had predicted.
Medical marijuana propositions in Arizona and South Dakota and a proposal that would have made it easier for cannabis farmers to distribute their crop failed as well.
According to a March 2010 California Field Poll, almost two-thirds of voters thought the government didn’t respond to their needs. This sentiment echoes the anti-tax anxiety that seems to pervade the country.
Of the 37 states that placed measures on the ballot this election, 10 states beside California had measures that would limit or decrease taxes or make it harder for new taxes to be passed. Washington voters
may raise the vote threshold needed to pass new taxes in the legislature from a simple majority to a two-thirds majority.
Alan Auerbach, Robert D Burch Professor of Tax Policy and Public Finance at UC Berkeley, said the distrust of government and taxes is hardly a surprise.
“If the economy grew steadily for a year or two, the feelings would be much more positive,” he said.
