Guest Opinion Guest Opinion (January 02, 2004)

Prop. 56 will ease budget crisis League urges voter to back 55 percent rule to pass state budgets
By Jane Turnbull

On behalf of the League of Women Voters of the Los Altos-Mountain View Area, I an writing to ask that every registered voter support Proposition 56, the Budget Accountability Act, an initiative that will appear on the March ballot.

As you may be well aware, the budget gridlock of the past several years has seriously affected our community in many ways. School administrators, unable to plan their budgets, have had to tell teachers and other staff, that they may not be employed in the year ahead. Local firms that do business with the state have suffered long delays in being paid. And we know that valuable city and county positions have had to be terminated.

The Budget Accountability Act is an effort to break down the polarizing party posturing in Sacramento. Because the state constitution currently requires a two-thirds vote to pass the budget, just a third of our state legislators can and often hold the budget hostage. The League hopes to see real bipartisan negotiation of budget priorities, but at present, that isn't happening. Reducing the required majority to 55 percent should be a step in the right direction.

According to the Act, if a budget is not in place by June 15, then legislators and the governor will forfeit their salaries and per diem pay, and the legislators will be precluded from taking up any other legislation until a budget is passed. All legislators will be held accountable.

The Act also calls for a regular assessment of the state of the budget to be included in the secretary of state's ballot pamphlet, which is sent to registered voters prior to each statewide election. And the Act calls for establishment of a reserve fund of up to 5 percent of the budget. In good years when revenues exceed current mandated expenditures, 25 percent of excess revenues would be allocated to a "rainy day" fund to be available in the next economic downturn.

The League recognizes that the Budget Accountability Act will only be a first step. But it is a good first step. As Californians, we will also need to address the very real constraints that our legislators face because seventy percent of the General Fund is locked up for defined programs, a result of ballot initiatives that we, the voters, have passed over the last two decades. However, for now, the League of Women Voters urges you to endorse the passage of Proposition 56, the Budget Accountability Act.
Jane Turnbull is co-president of the League of Women Voters of the Los Altos-Mountain View Area.

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