The Legislature's Democratic leadership has put into words, in the form of a constitutional amendment, its supposed cure for the Capitol's chronic gridlock on the state budget, having adapted it from proposals by California Forward, a bipartisan political reform group.
The measure, ACA 4, faces tough sledding in the Legislature because its most controversial provision, reducing the legislative vote requirement for a budget bill from two-thirds to a simple majority, would eliminate Republican leverage. The constitutional amendment itself would require a two-thirds vote to place it before voters and GOP leaders vowed to kill it when Democratic leaders unveiled it in conceptual form last week.
The change is needed, the amendment declares, because "the adoption of a state budget should play a key role in setting priorities, making choices about how tax dollars are spent, and ensuring that the people and their elected leaders understand the objectives and the consequences of budget decisions.
"In recent years, however, this process has become bogged down by political bickering and special interests seeking undue influence (so) California needs to change the state budget process to give policymakers the tools needed to restore and maintain public trust, and to hold them accountable by requiring them to forfeit their pay when they fail to approve a budget on time."
ACA 4's other provisions include requiring two-thirds votes for fees that replace taxes, forbidding legislators from receiving salaries and expense payments when the budget hasn't been passed by June 25, giving local governments the power to raise sales taxes with voter approval, and protecting local governments from financial raids by the state.
The measure's full text, introduced on Wednesday, can be found here.
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