"Abort. Retry. Fail?" It's happened to all of us. Right in the middle of an urgent project, the screen freezes, locks up, crashes – hours of work lost forever. We curse our computer for the thousandth time and swear we'll toss it and get a new one. But we can't. We've got a deadline, so we reconstruct our work and put off fixing our computer problem until tomorrow.

Imagine you're the governor of California or a state legislator looking down the barrel of the largest recession in your lifetime, trying to construct a balanced budget while the state, nation and the world have lost nearly a third of their value. That's $40 billion in state revenue gone and not coming back anytime soon. It's a tough and complicated problem.

You get to work. And what happens? A pop-up message: "System Failure! Cannot Perform Requested Action." You are reminded of what you already know, that California's budget process and system of governance is so ridden with viruses, stale cookies and out-of-date software, it can barely function at all. We have had decades of initiatives, automatic spending formulas and supermajority vote requirements, all layered one on top of the other. Well, just like anyone else on a deadline, we plod through it, and for the third time in nine months, we try. We'll be at it again before you know it.

Now, shortly after the legislative session, the last thing we want to think about is our broken system. But we must. It won't fix itself. It's time to reboot. Time to clean the hard drive of California government, scrub the viruses, remove the cookies and install a new system. Reboot.

Start with the operating system: Our state Constitution. It's ridden with viruses. What began as a short and simple document 160 years ago, similar to our federal Constitution, has since been amended more than 500 times by legislative and voter initiatives. It's the third-longest constitution in the world! (Just behind India and Louisiana.) One after another, one interest group or competing government sector has carved out protection for itself at the expense of the rest. It is a governance system in conflict with itself.

It's time to get rid of all the automatic formulas that ratchet up spending without any legislative oversight. We can fix this right now, without changing the Constitution. Start with a two-year budget cycle, dedicating one year solely to budget oversight. No bills allowed. Implement performance-based budgeting to require every program to identify its goals and outcomes as well as the measurements to evaluate performance. Apply sunsets to every program, including future tax credits, so that the public, through the Legislature, can periodically reaffirm their value. Use means tests whenever possible to ensure that expenditures go where they are needed most. Reform pensions to preserve defined benefits for future generations in a sustainable way.

If you want to keep a plane from crashing, you've first got to turn off the autopilot. Same with a budget.

And finally, let's change the debate. Instead of talking about the budget as simply a choice between taxes and cuts, let's focus on creating a system that rewards efficiency and penalizes waste. Instead of pitting one government sector against another in a zero-sum game, schools against cities or locals against the state, let's recognize we are all Californians in this together.

Local officials need to look beyond the worn-out attacks on the Legislature. In fact, former local elected officials constitute a majority of both houses in the Legislature today, more than ever before. Let's build a system that rewards partnerships at the local level and reduces the role of the state in dictating the priorities of every community. Rather than hardening the silo walls among schools, cities and counties, let's tear them down and make them jointly accountable to their common constituency.

I am one state senator, but I am not alone. There are others on both sides of the aisle who share my frustration and are ready to make fundamental changes before the next crisis and system crash.

Perhaps more importantly, there are two serious citizen movements gaining momentum. California Forward, a bipartisan group of some of the smartest and most experienced Californians, funded by our largest foundations, is spearheading a package of reforms similar to those I have mentioned, including my Senate Bill 777, requiring performance-based budgeting in all departments. Another group, the Bay Area Council, a business organization, is pushing for a constitutional convention of everyday citizens to come up with the fix, a sort of open-source software approach. Whatever process we choose, I'm confident the new operating system will be an improvement over the one we are using today.

California has a history of reinventing itself. However, reform will only happen if citizens demand change. I urge everyone to get involved.

State Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, represents the 5th District.