Looks like there’s concern out there that the idea of a part time legislature has legs. It certainly seems to be a concern from those on the left and those that defend the legislature.
Yesterday, I suggested that we consider a debate on the part time legislature in the context of the mushrooming use of the initiative process since the legislature became a full time institution. I wasn’t advocating for the part time legislature, just raising questions and pointing out facts. Frankly, I haven’t even made up my mind, yet, although I think a part time legislature in one form or another is worth considering.
In the comments section after my piece, Steve Magviglio, who often speaks for the Assembly Speaker, listed a number of reasons that have hindered the legislature from doing its job more effectively and warned of the dangers of a part time legislature.
First in the list was the two-thirds vote to pass the budget. But that argument doesn’t wash because the two-thirds vote to pass the budget has been around since the 1930s about the time the initiative process fell into a kind of hibernation for three decades. As to the issue of term limits—that measure didn’t pass until 1990 with the first turnover occurring mid-decade, long after the number of initiatives rose dramatically.
The Open Thread section on Calitics also fired away, saying the advance of signature gathering and professional political consultants is the reason for more initiatives. The professional side of politics has become more sophisticated in the last few decades, no doubt, although there were paid initiative signature gatherers as early as the 1930s, pioneered by Joe Robinson’s firm in San Francisco. While communication improvements and voter outreach has made it easier to challenge the legislature with initiatives, advanced communications has also made it easier to know what the legislature is doing or not doing, which has lead to frustrations on the part of the electorate.
Governance in California has changed in the last number of decades, and I contend that the average voter has not been pleased with what they have seen from the legislature. The chicken and egg argument will continue but I think the action, or lack thereof, from the legislature is the chicken in this case, and the rise of the initiative is the response.