California Super Majority Under Attack

Senator Loni Hancock is currently leading efforts to change current regulation required for Budget approval from two – thirds majority to a simple majority. In a letter to her supporters, she says “The 2/3rds vote requirement and “The Pledge” held the Democratic majority in the State Legislature hostage for my entire term in the State Assemble. Year after year we have negotiated against ourselves about what to give up and give away to get enough Republican votes to reach 2/3rds. Year after year, budgets were late. In the end they were primarily based on cuts, accounting gimmicks and borrowing.”

No matter what side you sit on, changing our current policy in CA would prove detrimental to the tax payers of the State. CA for the past 50 years has been lead by a Democratic majority, while this may be a bad or good thing depending on the what side you sit on, one thing is certain. One party rule will corrupt no matter how good the intentions of the individuals are. We see it in businesses, we see time after time in government, and we see it in individual behavior. Senator Hancock claims that this will speed up the process which is true, but at what cost? The only reason CA residents know so much about their budget is due to the delay in getting it passed. Voters have an opportunity to asses and comment on the budget process. If you remove that and basically give the power to one party to simply push through any changes, you lose accountability.

California tax payers need views from all points because there are no easy solutions. A budget cut or tax increase are not always the answer not are tax cuts. The right answer is a sustainable budget that controls wasteful spending and taxes appropriately while allowing residents to keep as much money as possible. Anyone that thinks it is a good idea to hand a blank check to a group of politicians (republican or democrats) does not care about their own money or the health of the state. Politicians will spend every dollar given to them and making the process easier to distribute hard earned cash by CA residents only promotes wasteful spending.

I urge everyone to call Senator Hancock and voice your opposition. (510) 286-1333