An independent committee backed by billionaire investor Nicolas Berggruen announced today that it will support a proposed ballot measure that would make major changes to the state's budget and governance processes.
Berggruen, who previously pledged to spend at least $20 million on the Think Long Committee for California's effort, said the proposal released by California Forward last year "perfectly reflects both the growing public demand in California for a more accountable government and Think Long's mission of strengthening California's democracy for the long term. "
"We are looking forward to working together with California Forward to take historic steps to increase public confidence in government and are prepared to dedicate ample time and resources to this worthy cause," he said in the statement.
California Forward's Issue Action Fund is gathering voter signatures as part of a qualification campaign for its proposed constitutional amendment, which includes transitioning to a two-year, performance-based budget process and provisions intended to bring more transparency to the legislative process.
Aspects of California Forward's measure were endorsed by Think Long in a late 2011 report outlining the bipartisan panel's recommendations for addressing the state's structural issues.
That report also detailed two proposed ballot measures that the committee planned to qualify for the 2012 ballot, including a tax hike that would revamp the state's revenue system. But faced with criticism and a crowded ballot, the committee announced this month that it would put its qualification plans on hold until 2014, instead backing existing proposals for this year's elections.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.