December 20, 2007

CalChamber goes No on 93

The California Chamber of Commerce announced the results of an internal vote to oppose a ballot measure to alter term limits today, almost two weeks after the vote was taken.

“It is unfortunate that the February ballot does not offer voters the opportunity to consider redistricting reform that would provide for fair elections in conjunction with Proposition 93. The CalChamber Board of Directors believes that term limits reform without redistricting reform is not the comprehensive political reform California needs,” said Chamber president Allan Zaremberg in a written statement.

The board voted -- and released its positions -- on the rest of the measures on the Feb. 5 ballot on December 7.

Asked at the time why not release its decision on Proposition 93, Chamber spokeswoman Denise Davis told Capitol Alert, "that's the way the board decided to handle it."

When the term limits campaign launched early this year, Zaremberg issued a laudatory statment, but has since tied his, and the Chamber's, support to redistricting.

“If we are going to allow legislators to serve longer periods of time, they must be accountable to the voters," Zaremberg said in today's statement. "Fair redistricting is critical to creating accountability. We must ensure that districts are competitive and that voters have the ability to hold elected officials accountable at the ballot box for their actions.”

Davis said the Chamber has not committed any resources to oppose the measure.

With reporting from Jim Sanders.

Posted by Shane Goldmacher on December 20, 2007 1:13 PM