California Politics: The Propositions

There are four state propositions on the ballot for March 2 in California.

Prop 55: School Bonds. This one makes sense to me. It's for school facilities from kindergarten to the university level. It seems to be on the borderline in support.

Prop 56: Reforming legislative processes. This is a much-needed reform, though it's likely to lose in this election. As William Parent explains:

What would truly make the Legislature more efficient and less prone to gridlock is Proposition 56. If approved, it would repeal a 1933 law requiring a two-thirds vote to pass the state budget, as well as working around one strand of the Gordian knot of Proposition 13, the one requiring a two-thirds vote to pass new tax increases. Instead, a 55% vote of the Legislature would suffice in both instances, except on property taxes. It would take us closer to the democratic principle of majority rule. The governor would still have the power to veto the budget, by line item or as a whole.

Prop 57: Schwarzenegger's $15 billion bond proposal. This one enjoys wide bipartisan support and virtually no active opposition. It's likely to pass. It refinances some short-term debt as long-term debt. And it borrows money to finance part of the deficit in Schwarzenegger's proposed 2004-5 budget. While I understand why so many officials of both parties support it as an immediate fix, I think it's basically a bad idea. It's credit-card financing of things that should be financed from current revenues.

Prop 58: Schwarzenegger's "Balanced Budget Act".  In theory, it prevents the legislature from financing operating budget deficits by borrowing money - like Schwarzenegger proposes to do with Prop 57. I think it's just kind of goofy that Schwarzenegger can't balance an annual budget even with his unusual electoral mandate from the 2003 recall vote, but he's proposing this measure that would supposedly do it by auto-pilot from now on. It also requires a "rainy day reserve" to be established in prosperous years. That's a good idea. But locking it into law in this way just doesn't make sense to me, either.