Bills Seek Limits on Governor’s Powers

By Steve Geissinger, SACRAMENTO BUREAU

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s failed special election last month may trigger government reforms after all — but not those he intended.

A report that a majority of voters want to tweak the initiative system — and strip the governor of the power to call a special election on his own — is fueling action on a politically sensitive topic.Two Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday they plan separate constitutional amendments. And good-government groups said they are looking toward either legislation or an independent ballot initiative. One way or the other, the matter appears headed to voters.

“If we had a law which required legislative approval to call a special election on initiatives, the November election would never have happened, and our state’s schools would have

$50 million more to spend on our kids,” said Assemblyman Johan Klehs, D-San Leandro.

Klehs said the findings of a Public Policy Institute of California poll released Monday will help him shape his bill. In the wake of the special election, 54 percent of voters want to require that the governor gain the approval of the Legislature before calling a special election.

Assembly Majority Leader Dario Frommer, D-Glendale, plans to propose legislation that would restrict a governor’s ability to call a special election when an initiative qualifies for the ballot.

Instead, the governor would only be permitted to call for a special election after declaring a state of emergency. Only ballot initiatives linked to that emergency, which are passed by a vote of the Legislature, could appear on that ballot.

“The special election should be reserved for special circumstances or emergencies, not to advance a governor’s narrow political agenda,” Frommer said.

Schwarzenegger’s aides declined comment, citing their policy of waiting until a bill is on the governor’s desk.

Of those who voted in the special election, the poll showed 72 percent think the state’s initiative process needs either major or minor changes.

“The special election appears to have tempered, at least temporarily, some of their overwhelming support for the initiative process,” said PPIC poll director Mark Baldassare.

The century-old system of citizens placing measures directly on a ballot, adopted to break special interests’ lock on government, is now often a tool of special interests themselves and has helped fuel runaway campaign spending.

Revamping the system has long been a hot but dicey topic among political analysts and stakeholders.

In the wake of the special election, an overwhelming majority support forcing initiative sponsors and lawmakers to try to compromise, creating a better review system to reduce legal errors, bolstering public disclosure of funding sources and requiring supporters and foes to participate in televised debates.

A majority of voters also supports limiting initiatives to the less-cluttered November general election ballot.

Contact Sacramento Bureau Chief Steve Geissinger at sgeissinger@angnewspapers.com.