• Majority vote for the budget
California is one of only three states that require a two-thirds vote in each house of the Legislature to pass a budget. Allowing lawmakers to pass a budget on a majority vote would make the majority party more accountable to the voters. This could be done with or without a companion measure to reduce the threshold for tax increases from a two-thirds to a simple majority.
• Two-year budget
Currently, California adopts a new budget every year. One proposal would use a two-year budget, with one year of the legislative session dedicated to the budget and one year reserved for other legislation. Lawmakers would be prohibited from introducing any other legislation until a budget was passed and signed by the governor.
• Spending limit
Voters adopted a spending limit in 1979 by a wide margin, but later weakened it to the point of irrelevance. Many fiscal conservatives would like once again to limit the growth in spending to a combination of population growth and inflation.
• Open primary
Californians have nonpartisan local governments, but state government is polarized between the Democrats and the Republicans. In an open primary, the parties would no longer winnow the candidates. Instead, the top two vote-getters in the primary would face off in a general election regardless of their party affiliation.
• Term limits
California adopted term limits in 1990, limiting Assembly members to three two-year terms and senators to two four-year terms. Voters have rejected two measures to expand those terms, but both proposals came from self-interested legislators. A proposal to modestly lengthen terms might find more favor if it applied only to future lawmakers and not those already in office.
• Initiative reform
Many critics of the initiative process believe it should be more difficult to put measures on the ballot and pass them, or that legislators should get a chance to suggest amendments before proposals go to the voters. Another idea: require any proposal that spends money to include a way to pay for itself, either by raising taxes or redirecting current spending.
• Campaign finance reform
California has limits on donations to candidates for the Legislature and statewide office. Some advocates for reform suggest making those limits stricter; others suggest that some form of public financing or voter-controlled vouchers would reduce the influence of moneyed interests. Others say lifting all limits and requiring better disclosure would work best because politicians and donors will always find a way to game any other system.
• Expanded Legislature
California's state senators represent more people than do members of Congress, and even Assembly members represent more than 400,000 people each. Expanding the Legislature would give each member fewer constituents, possibly allowing lawmakers to know and hear from a greater percentage of their voters, and making it less expensive to run for election.
• Proportional voting
The winner-take-all system used in U.S. elections and in California inhibits political diversity by shutting out the views of the losing side in each contest. Even if 49 percent of voters support a particular candidate, the view of the majority prevails completely. In one example of a proportional system, the top five vote-getters might win seats in each district, allowing voter groups reflecting 20 percent or less of the community to win a voice in the Legislature.
• Redistricting Currently, the Legislature controls the drawing of new district lines after the census every 10 years. Critics say this is a conflict of interest that allows legislators to pick their voters rather than having voters pick their legislators. A proposal to create an independent commission to draw those lines is on the November ballot as Proposition 11.
– Daniel Weintraub
