Ballot Initiative

The ruling is here. The AP story is here. I'll leave the legal analysis to the lawyers, and offer a political explanation. This ruling invalidates Prop 22, the 2000 ballot initiative that barred same-sex marriage in California. And it likely means that local officials around the state will permit gay and lesbian couples to marry. Such marriages will raise this issue's profile politically, both in California and in the presidential race. All eyes this fall should be on the November initiative in California to establish a state constitutional ban against gay marriage.

This piece in the Contra Costa Times asks whether there's "donor fatigue" as Gov. Schwarzenegger raises money for his redistricting initiative and perhaps, some sort of budget reform ballot measure (or measures) in November. It's a fair question. The problem may not be fatigue but donors' clear-eyed assessment of the political chances of redistricting and budget reform. Redistricting has a perfect record at the ballot over the last 15 years -- it's lost every time -- and budget reform proposals of all stripes (notably Prop. 56 in 2004--backed by Democrats and unions -- and Prop. 76 -- backed by Schwarzenegger and Republicans --  in 2005) have gone down to defeat. What is the point of spending good money on reform proposals that will go down to defeat, no matter their merits?

Reason magazine, now edited by the brilliant Matt Welch (friend of the blog and fan of God's favorite baseball team, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), has become a must-read, even for us non-libertarians. Here's a thought-provoking piece that uses the South Dakota abortion initiative to think about the limits of ballot initiatives and majorities when it comes to rights.

Filing ballot initiatives is cheap. It's qualifying them that costs money. And it's fun to make a point. That seems to be the idea behind a San Francisco ballot initiative that would rename a city sewage plant for George W. Bush. It's also an example of the city living up to its reputation for subtle, restrained political commentary.

Raising taxes is almost always difficult politically. When it comes to tax-hiking ballot measures, the trick is to find a politically popular cause to fund. Sam Page, a candidate for lieutenant governor in Missouri, may have come up with the best possible tax ballot measure so far. He proposes a ballot mesaure to raise sales taxes by one-eighth of a cent to fund "veterans' homes, services and programs." Just try to be the poor soul organizing a no campaign against that. It's too late to qualify measures for November, so the legislature would have to put it on the ballot. Look for politicians in other states to copy this.

Capitol Weekly has a good piece on the Schwarzenegger redistricting initiative as a test of a new non-profit reform group, California Forward, led by former Congressman and Clinton Chief of Staff Leon Panetta. Panetta is one of the best strategic thinkers in the state, but fighting dysfunction in the Clinton White House is nothing compared to fighting dysfunction in California state government.

Complaints about the initiative process often have little to do with the process and a lot to do with the content of the initiative in question. Democratic legislators who rail against the process end up sponsoring initiatives to fund pet causes. And Republicans -- particularly those in California -- often talk about the initiative as a sacred expression of the people's will (especially Prop 13, the ultimate holy sacrament). Except when it produces policies they don't like.

The latest example of this comes from Dave Cogdill, the new Republican leader in the California State Senate. This week Cogdill proposed to balance the budget by raiding three accounts set up by ballot initiative: the county commissions for children established by Prop 10; the mental health services funds set aside by Prop 63, and the transportation fund established by Prop 42.

On the natural, each of these proposals is worth considering. Ballot box budgeting has its problems, and in a budget crisis, everything ought to be on the table. But the hypocrisy is nauseating. If someone suggested suspending Prop. 13 property tax limits, Cogdill and Republicans would be denouncing the notion. Next, Democratic legislators, who have been no friends of the initiative, predictably will rise to the defense of the people's will. The wailing you hear is California crying for leadership.

Here's a nice little slice of life piece on an effort by churches who oppose a local referendum to permit mixed drinks in their small North Carolina town of Troutman. This will be on today's ballot, along with the presidential primary.

NEW SPEAKER MAKES BALLOT INITIATIVE A PRIORITY: Here's another example of how thoroughly California has become a blockbuster democracy: the state's new Assembly Speaker, the formidable Karen Bass, has announced three priorities for her time as speaker. One is a ballot initiative to set aside funding for foster care. That's right, the speaker of the assembly, with considerable power, must look to the voters for a budget item. And her other two priorities -- balancing the budget and reforming the tax system -- almost certainly would require voters to sign off on constitutional changes at the ballot. 

ARIZONA TRANSPORTATION: A $42 billion transportation tax initiative is expected to be filed in Arizona this week. And The Republic has a preview.

LEAGUE OF CITIES INVESTMENT: The California League of Cities has now put more than $4 million into its no on Prop 98/ Yes on Prop 99 campaign on eminent domain. The campaign's goal, which includes the counter measure Prop 99, is to stop an effort by property rights and taxpayer groups to limit municipalities' ability to take property. Hat tip, Election Track.

If you've seen many creature-from-outer-space movies, you know that elected officials and legislators simply aren't up to the task of dealing with attacks from other galaxies. Fortunately, mankind has evolved to the point where we've created the ballot initiative process. And one man in Denver has filed an initiative to create an 18-person city commission with the purpose of "dealing with issues related to the presence of extraterrestrial beings on Earth." Denver, being at altitude, is likely to be attacked first.