|
2008
Gerrymandering The Vote: How A “Dirty
Dozen” States Suppress As Many As 9 Million Voters
Democratic Leadership Council
June 2008
Editorial: Perata's Power Play
San Francisco Chronicle
June 30, 2008
Democrats Fear Redistricting Measure Would
Curb Their Power In State
San Francisco Chronicle
June 27, 2008
Election-Map Initiative Helps Voters, State
Progress
Sacramento Bee
June 27, 2008
Politics And California Redistricting
CaliforniaProgressReport.com
June 27, 2008
Millions On Line In Ballot Drives
Sacramento Bee
June 24, 2008
Democratic Leaders Accused Of Pressuring
Supporters Of Redistricting Measure
Contra Costa Times Sacramento Bureau
June 21, 2008
California Is Branded Among A 'Dirty
Dozen' On Gerrymandering
Los Angeles Times
June 19, 2008
Redistricting In California: Control or
Democracy?
CaliorniaProgressReport.com
June 19, 2008
Changing Method Of Redistricting Makes
Ballot
San Francisco Chronicle
June 18, 2008
Government Reformer Down On Redistricting
Initiative
PolitickerCA.com
June 18, 2008
Redistricting Initiative Makes California
Ballot
San Jose Mercury News
June 17, 2008
Democratic Party Takes Stands On Ballot
Measures
CaliforninaMajorityReport.com
June 17, 2008
Cavala: Republicans Kill Reform Bill That
Hurts GOP Chances While Democrats Support 'Reform' That Hurts Their Chances
CaliforniaProgressReport.com
June 9, 2008
Speaking With The New Speaker
Los Angeles Times
June 2, 2008
Two Plans Created To Reform Districts
Modesto Bee
May 19, 2008
New Speaker Should Focus On Public
Interest
Los Angeles Daily News
May 13, 2008
Why Schwarzenegger's Redistricting Plan
Won't Work
California Majority Report.com
May 13, 2008
Tony Quinn: Redistricting Reform OK, But
It's Only A Start
Sacramento Bee
May 11, 2008
Governor May Face Donor Fatigue
Contra Costa Times
May 11, 2008
California Redistricting Plan Faces Hurdles
Capitol Weekly
May 7, 2008
Dan Walters: Competing Proposals For Remap
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 2008
Initiative On Redistricting Closer To
Ballot
San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Nunez Pushes Ethics Plan As Rival Petitions
Are Filed
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 2008
To Get Leadership Reform, We First Need
Redistricting
Los Angeles Daily News
May 1, 2008
Good Intentions Could Harm Redistricting
Ballot Measure
Los Angeles Times
April 28, 2008
Redistricting On Track To Qualify,
Consultant Says
New America Foundation.com
April 23, 2008
Why Are GOP Contributors Putting Big Money
Into Redistricting Reform?
California Progress Report.com
April 19, 2008
Gov's
Giving To Remap Measure Tops $1 million
Sacramento Bee Capital Alert
April 21, 2008
‘Due
Process’ Democrats Have Their Heads Buried in the California Sand
California Progress Report.com
April 20, 2008
Opinion: Seeing The Light
Los Angeles Daily News
April 19, 2008
California
Voters FIRST Presents A Balanced And Bipartisan Effort For Redistricting
Reform
California Progress Report.com
April 17, 2008
Schwarzenegger's
Redistricting Plan Comes Under Fire
Contra Costa Times
April 17, 2008
Group Says Plan Will Put A Stop To
Gerrymandering
The Simi Valley Acron
April 4, 2008
The Need For Redistricting Reform From
This California Democrat’s Perspective
California Progress Report.com
April 4, 2008
Labor Says No To
Schwarzenegger/Republican/Common Cause Redistricting Measure
The California Majority Report.com
April 02, 2008
Revenge In Attack On Legislative
Redistricting?
California Progress Report.com
March 31, 2008
Weintraub: Governor Gets Another Shot At
Redistricting Reform
Sacramento Bee
March 30, 2008
Editorial: Can't Legislature Do Better Than
Bills On Dogs, Donkeys?
The Fresno Bee
March 30, 2008
Walters: Voters Irate At Budget Posturing
Sacramento Bee
March 28, 2008
New Foundation To Campaign For More Efficient
California Government
Sacramento Bee
March 27, 2008
Editorial: California Voters Should Support
Redistricting Ballot Measure
Fresno Bee
March 24, 2008
Editorial: Redraw the Map
Los Angeles Daily News
March 22, 2008
Walters: Court Ruling Offers Hope to
Dysfunctional California Politics
Sacramento Bee
March 19, 2008
Supreme Court to Hear Major Redistricting
Case
The Thicket at State Legislatures (ncsl.com)
March 18, 2008
Editorial: Let Citizens Redraw the Map
The Torrance Daily Breeze
March 17, 2008
Walters: Redistrict Reformers Miss Mark
Sacramento Bee
March 10, 2008
Let Citizens
Redraw Map
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
March 9, 2008
Governor Proposes Redistricting Ballot
Measure
North County Times
March 8, 2008
Redistricting Initiative Has Strong
Republican Backing
San Jose Mercury News
March 6, 2008
Governor Gathers Signatures to Qualify
Redistricting Measure
San Jose Mercury News
March 4, 2008
Manipulative Lawmakers Playing To The Crowd
Fresno Bee
February 14, 2008
State Voters Need To Do What Lawmakers
Won't
Los Angeles Daily News
February 14, 2008
Editorial: What We Need In Sacramento,
Redistricting, Not Retaliation
San Jose Mercury News
February 14, 2008
Redistricting Reform, Not Longer Terms, Is
The Answer
California Republic.org
February 12, 2008
The Buzz: A Hardball Tactic Could Ricochet
Sacramento Bee
February 11, 2008
Wake Up, Sacramento Media! Wake Up! Wake
Up! Wake Up!
San Diego Union Tribune
February 8, 2008
Editorial: Passive Aggressive Lawmakers
Just Play to the Crowd
Fresno Bee
February 8, 2008
Nunez Takes Blame For Prop. 93 Loss
Los Angeles Daily News
February 7, 2008
Weingand: Voters Got A Whiff and Said 'No'
Sacramento Bee
February 7, 2008
Lawmakers Believe In Term Limits But
Oppose The Measure
North County Times
February 4, 2008
Good For Us
Los Angeles Times
February 4, 2008
Commentary: A Conversation with Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger
Sacramento Bee
January 20, 2008
Walters: Two Party Structure Under Fire
Sacramento Bee
January 18, 2008
Walters: Governor's Brownian Flip-Flops
Sacramento Bee
January 16, 2008
Editorial: Corruption of a Good Idea
San Francisco Chronicle
January 15, 2008
Governor Supports Term Limit Measure
Sacramento Bee
January 15, 2008
A Deceptive Prop. 93
San Francisco Chronicle
January 10, 2008
Use Prop. 93 To Say 'No"
dailybreeze.com
January 3, 2008
more
|
 |
Editorial: Can't Legislature Do Better Than
Bills On Dogs, Donkeys?
By Jim Boren
The Fresno Bee
March 30, 2008
I heard Assemblyman George Plescia, R-La Jolla, on the radio the
other morning explaining his legislation to allow employees to take
their dogs to work on June 20. Now I know why Assemblyman Mike
Villines, R-Clovis, was able to put together the votes two years ago
to boot Plescia out of the minority leader's job.
Allowing employees to take their dogs to work one day a year may be
a fine idea, but do we really need a legislator carrying a
resolution supporting the concept? Maybe we should put the dogs in
charge of the Capitol and let them take a legislator to work once a
year.
Plescia's dog bill joins other signature legislation by California
lawmakers, such as a measure to ban wild burros from private
property and an exemption for the city of La Verne from providing
separate traffic lanes for golf carts. Assemblyman Juan Arambula,
D-Fresno, says there's even a bill to clean up grammar and spelling
errors in laws already passed.
Apparently state bureaucrats are too timid to fix typos on their own
so they need a bill to go through both houses of the Legislature and
signed by the governor. Arambula has a better idea: run a
spell-check program on bills before they are passed.
It might be unfair to single out these bills if lawmakers also were
making California better with other significant legislation. Not a
chance.
They seldom get a budget passed on time, and this year could be a
stalemate all summer. The state's deficit continues to grow, even
though the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fixed it the
past three years. Health care reform is dead, our transportation
system is in gridlock, our bridges and levees are falling apart. On
top of that, our public schools are underfunded and underperforming.
Even something they say they all agree on -- reforming the system
for drawing legislative and congressional district boundaries --
never gets the votes to get out of both legislative houses. These
are folks who draw a salary for a job that never gets done.
So maybe Assemblyman Plescia has the right idea. At least the
California Legislature can perform on the trivial stuff.
Much of the public must agree with me, because my computer in-box is
jammed with positive e-mails every time I write about the problems
with the state Legislature. They reflect a public that's
increasingly frustrated, which is what a Public Policy Institute of
California poll said last week: Seven out of 10 Californians believe
the Legislature is doing a bad job.
I'm not anti-government. I just think the Legislature is not
equipped to deal with 21st century problems. The politicians have a
last-century mindset in which beating the other side is more
important than solving problems. It's time for change from the
political model of doing business.
My plan, which I repeat often, is to abolish the Legislature and
replace it with a single house. We don't need a 40-person Senate and
an 80-person Assembly when a 120-member unicameral legislature will
do just fine. You aren't reducing the number of legislators, but you
are getting rid of duplicated committees in the two houses.
Take a vote on a bill and if it passes, send it to the governor.
Simple.
I've offered many other ideas for improving government, including
limiting the number of bills that can be introduced each year to
three. More than 2,000 bills are introduced annually in the Senate
and Assembly, which is why people like Plescia seem obligated to
push a resolution about dogs.
The lack of commitment to getting things done frustrates Arambula,
who believes the "safe" legislative seats drawn by
gerrymandering have created lawmakers who practice politics on the
extremes. "I feel like an endangered species as a
moderate," Arambula said.
The Legislature seldom takes on an issue to solve it, he said, but
"works around the margins." So lawmakers are easily
sidetracked and big problems are put off to the next year.
Getting redistricting reform will help, Arambula said, because
legislators will be more accountable to the voters.
Redistricting is another one of my key reforms for the Legislature.
But here's the main issue. The leadership in the Legislature does
not see anything wrong. The Democrats like their majority so they
can run both houses of the Legislature and the Republicans like
having just enough members to block tax increases or passing a
budget because of the two-thirds requirement.
We need a complete overhaul of the California Legislature. Until
that happens, big problems will be ignored and lawmakers will
continue to introduce trivial bills.
Jim Boren is The Fresno Bee’s editorial page editor. His column
appears Sundays.
|
