Agenda short on voters' concerns

[question everything]

Monday, August 15, 2005

Agenda short on voters' concerns

State Legislature winds down with the hot-button issues instead of addressing quality-of-life bills.

By JOHN GITTELSOHN
The Orange County Register

(snip)

The bills touch political hot buttons - gay marriage, gun control, immigration - but would have little effect on many Californians' quality of life. What's hard to find are bills that significantly affect schools, housing affordability or health care - issues that polls show voters expect government to address.

It's a long-term problem, aggravated this year as legislators focus on the Nov. 8 special election, said Barbara O'Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and the Media at Cal State Sacramento. "There really isn't a positive agenda," she said. "The process has become so destructive. It's all about tearing down the other guy."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he called the special election because the Legislature failed to act on his agenda, some of which targets lawmakers. One of his initiatives, Proposition 76, would allow the governor to impose midyear budget cuts without legislators' consent if the state faces a deficit. Another, Proposition 77, would let retired judges rather than lawmakers redraw legislative boundaries.

(snip)

Sen. Debra Ortiz, D-Sacramento, said both parties share blame. A prescription-drug bill she sponsored on the governor's behalf died after pro-Democratic unions, which are feuding with the governor, opposed the bill for political reasons. Now there are two rival prescription-drug initiatives on the Nov. 8 ballot. "It's certainly one of the battles we could have settled if we focused more on policy," she said.

Many factors contribute to the lack of major legislation. Term limits discourage the long-term efforts typically required to make major changes in state law. So do tight budgets. "A lot of bills with price tags have been held in the Appropriations Committee or defeated," said Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, sponsor of a bill to allow "gender neutral marriage."

(snip)

http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/08/15/sections/news/news/article_635293.php

[Oerdin]

1. That's a good article.

It's pretty even handed and factual even if I disagree with it's conclusion that term limits are part of the problem. I'm very much against prop 76 as I don't like the idea of the governor being able to impose cuts without the consent of the state house and they explained the prop's effects fairly clearly. Prop 77 I'm still officially undecided on but leaning towards. Personally, I'm not sure about the teacher tenure prop either since I just haven't read enough about it. I really don't think the teachers are the problem though instead of the groups which control what is taught and how.