Spring 2003

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Guest Commentary 

Joel Fox, past president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, has been the proponent of statewide tax-related initiatives, including Proposition 218, which requires a vote by the electorate on local tax increases. His book, "The Legend of Proposition 13," will be published in May.  This commentary was published March 5 in the Sacramento Bee and is reprinted with permission.

Start building an ark: A flood of initiatives and referendums is coming to California.

The ingredients are in place for a perfect storm. Sacramento is in gridlock over the state budget. The Democratic governor disagrees over solutions with members of his own party, which is in the majority. Minority Republicans refuse to give their Democratic colleagues the votes needed to raise taxes by the required two-thirds margin. Local governments are in a dither, fearing devastating state raids on local treasuries.

In the Golden State, when the Legislature doesn't act, special interests or citizens take matters into their own hands. Some claim this is vigilante lawmaking, but it is part of the California Constitution. The initiative process allow citizens to write their own laws. Referendums allow voters to overturn laws passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor.

The prospect of a torrent of initiatives and referendums is made more certain because it is now easier to qualify them for the ballot. That's because turnout for the November 2002 gubernatorial election was down from the previous gubernatorial election by 8 percent. Since that turnout determines the number of signatures required to put initiatives and referendums on the ballot, it is 8 percent easier to qualify an item for the ballot today than it was before last November.

Those who want to get a place on the ballot are already lining up to take a number - a proposition number.

Local government representatives have announced they are working on an initiative to protect their revenue so the state government can't swipe local money to balance the state budget. The California Teachers Association said it is exploring a ballot measure to raise taxes to be spent on education.

Other public-sector activists also are talking publicly about going to the ballot with a tax increase. Why? Because tax increases in the Legislature take a two-thirds vote and Republicans, who hold key votes, say flatly they will not raise taxes. The activists think they can make their case to the voters. A majority vote is all that's needed to pass a statewide ballot initiative.

But taxes also can be cut by initiative, and tax-cutters threaten to use the ballot to trim the car tax if it is ultimately increased, something Democratic legislators still want. A quirk in the law may allow that tax to be increased without a two-thirds vote. Another potential initiative being discussed would set a cap on state government spending.

Revenues also can be raised by fees, which require only a simple majority and which some legislators use to try to avoid the two-thirds requirement. But fees, unlike taxes, are subject to referendums. Already, members of the business community, attorneys and political consultants are preparing to bring any fee increases to the ballot.

Initiatives and referendums are responses to a Sacramento government made dysfunctional, some claim, because of earlier initiatives, which allegedly have hindered legislative flexibility with supermajority vote requirements or spending mandates. Others say term limits bring inexperienced legislators to Sacramento to deal with massive problems. Legislators are blamed for indulging in political gamesmanship such as reapportionment to make incumbents immune to opponents who want to challenge their political orthodoxies.

Whatever the cause, the governing class may not be doing much governing. That responsibility will fall to the voters, who will make the final decisions on the initiatives and referendums sure to come. By this time next year, California voters could be going through a ballot book that, in length, would make Dostoevski proud.