Where’s the logic?
Voters passed Prop. 25, but also Props. 22 and 26
Speaking of elections, what were California voters thinking last week when they voted on the propositions?
Yes, we approved Prop. 25, which supposedly will make it easier for the Legislature to pass a budget by requiring majority, rather than two-thirds, approval. But we also passed Props. 22 and 26, which will make it harder. The former constrains lawmakers from transferring certain revenues from local governments to benefit the state general fund, and the latter raises the approval threshold for regulatory fees on oil, alcohol and tobacco companies from majority to two-thirds.
Prop. 26, by the way, will also blast a $1 billion hole in the already devastated state budget. On top of that, we defeated Prop. 24, which would have canceled $1.3 billion in corporate tax breaks. That’s $2.3 billion we added to the deficit, already projected to be in the neighborhood of $12 billion.
Yes, we killed Prop. 23, which would have scuttled the state’s global-warming law. Woo-hoo! But then we turned right around and approved Prop. 26, which seeks to wreck Prop. 23 by going in the back door rather than the front.
We really can’t blame the voters. These measures, all financed by special interests, come at them without context and with little analysis. The problem is the initiative process itself. It needs major reform.
