Criticize Prop 1A if you like, but opponents of the measures (and heck, even some supporters) should stop saying that it’s long. It’s not.
By comparison to other California ballot measures, 1A is short and compact. And the legislative and gubernatorial staffers (not to mention the interest group folks) who drafted 1A have done a much better job of being concise than sponsors of ballot initiatives.
Prop 1A is a little less than 3,000 words. If that seems like a lot, consider this: between 2000 and 2006, 15 of the 46 voter-sponsored initiatives on the ballot were over 5,000 words long, according to a 2008 report from the Center for Governmental Studies. Eight of those 46 initiatives were longer than 10,000 words.
The trend, the CGS report found, is at least 20 years old. Between 1980 and 1987, only two initiatives were longer than 5,000 words. (Irony: One of those initiatives, Prop 37, the lottery initiative, would be changed under Prop 1C on next Tuesday’s ballot). Most initiatives in this era – and previous eras – were about the same length as Prop 1A, between 1,000 and 3,000 words. But in the 1988 and 1990 elections, all 13 initiatives exceeded 5,000 words.
How about this for an irony? A big reason why voters must decide on Propositions 1A thru 1E is because of previous ballot initiatives that were themselves longer than Prop 1A. In addition to the lottery initiative of Prop 37, Prop 98 (the education initiative that provides the basis for parts of Prop 1A and Prop 1B), Prop 10 (the early childhood initiative that would be partially undone by Prop 1D) and Prop 63 (the mental health initiative that would be partially undone by Prop 1E) were all longer than Prop 1A.
If anything, instead of criticizing 1A for being long, opponents would be more honest to argue that it’s not long enough. Prop 1A doesn’t always explain or define its terms. And in the unlikely event it were to pass, there would be quite a bit of debate – and litigation – about the exact meaning of some of its terms.
So, voters, please give Prop 1A a read. It won’t take you long.