Supermajority Vote?
Those of us who follow state politics know that there are some individuals who will never give up. To protect the minority in our legislature the state of California enacted a “two-thirds supermajority vote requirement to enact the state budget and raise revenue.” It is worth pointing out that we have had the 2/3rds rule in California for the past 76 years.
The following Initiative is now entering circulation with the sole purpose of reducing the current supermajority requirement to approval by three-fifths of the legislative Body. Based on number of registered voters they will need to obtain around one million signatures to cover any that may be rejected. Following is the Title & Summary of the application to the Attorney General from Bob Denham:
1370. (09-0016)
Changes the Vote Requirement to Pass a Budget or Raise Taxes From Two-Thirds to Three-Fifths. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.
Summary Date: 07/30/09 Circulation Deadline: 12/28/09 Signatures Required: 694,354
Proponent: Robert Denham (510) 302-2178
Changes the legislative vote requirement necessary to pass the state budget, and to raise taxes, from two-thirds (sixty-seven percent) to three-fifths (sixty percent). Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Unknown state fiscal impacts from lowering the legislative vote requirement for spending and tax increases. In some cases, the content of the annual state budget could change and/or state tax revenues could increase. Fiscal impact would depend on the composition and actions of future Legislatures. (09-0016.)
Does possibly help get the budget out on time, depending on the make up of the legislature.
Does not solve the problems of prior propostitons requiring specific percentages and levels of spending on many programs or the cost of federal mandates.