More than a week ago, the Public Policy Institute of California put out a report looking at redistricting and legislative behavior. But it didn't get the attention it deserved. The recall attempt against Gov. Schwarzenegger, the calls for a constitutional convention, and -- most of all -- the end of the budget drama consumed air time and newspaper space. The report also was the subject of a dismissive column by Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters.

I've now read the PPIC report and the Walters column. Bottom line: Walters gets it wrong, and PPIC's report deserves more attention from the state's leaders and media. Walters, in the manner of sportswriters who ignore the importance of baseball stasticis and talk about unverifiable things like "clubhouse chemistry" and "clutch hitting," dismisses the report by saying that the legislature is more partisan now than it was in the '90s. How does Dan know this? He just does. He was there. The report, Walters wrote, "could not, for instance, quantify the influence that moderate Democrats in the Assembly, led by then-Speaker Robert Hertzberg and dubbed the 'mod squad,' wielded." The other problem with Walters' criticism is that it's not on point. The report's conclusion isn't really about partisanship in one decade versus another. PPIC hones in on legislative behavior, and the factors that change it.

Here, the report deserves a close reading, not only by voters considering Prop 11, the redistricting initiative, but also by the vast collection of good government groups that are talking about a constitutional convention and broader reforms. Here's the report's bottom line on redistricting: there's no evidence that the way districts are drawn affects how legislators behave and vote. This is real news, and should force California reformers to look away from redistricting as the focus of their efforts. What might work better? Open primaries might change the nature of candidates that are elected to office. Or perhaps changing the structure and size of the legislature would make a difference.

The PPIC report's author, Eric McGhee, at the California State Association of Counties conference center in Sacramento, 1020 11th Street. And for those interested in big ideas, keep a couple of events on your calendar. Leon Panetta is the keynote speaker in San Francisco on Oct., 14 at a dinner hosted by the Bay Area Council, the business-backed policy group that is pushing for a constitutional convention. And on Nov. 19 in Sacramento, the New America Foundation -- full disclosure: my employer -- is holding an event on regionalism in California that will address the struture of the legislature. More to come on that.