Prop 98

John Matsusaka of the Initiative & Referendum Institute at USC had an excellent piece on the state's budget problems. One important point he makes: the ballot initiative is not to blame for our budget troubles. He notes that the legislature would spend about half of the budget on education without Prop 98, and that all the other initiatives ever approved lock in only about 2 percent of the state budget. Matsusaka points to spending growth -- and the power of interest groups that demand more spending -- as the root of the problem.

Here's my piece on Prop 98, California's education funding guarantee, in today's Los Angeles Times. Prop 98 is very, very complicated, but it generally does what it's supposed to: protect education. In the piece, I consider various problems with the formula and various ways to fix it, but conclude with only one reform.

The debate over competing statewide initiatives on eminent domain -- Propositions 98 and 99 on the June 3 ballot in California -- is focusing on Prop 98's prohibition of rent control, the Contra Costa Times says. Recent polling shows that voters are inclined to turn down both initiatives.