Prop. 31 seeks to alter budget process

SACRAMENTO — How to end California’s boom-and-bust budget cycles and perpetual deficits has perplexed governors, lawmakers and fiscal experts for years.

Now a think tank is proposing a solution and is putting it before voters in November.
Proposition 31’s supporters say it will help put an end to California’s chronic budget problems by forcing lawmakers to plan ahead, promoting transparency and granting flexibility to local governments.



Opponents cover a broad political spectrum and include labor organizations, conservatives and good-government groups. They say Proposition 31 is ill-conceived and could lead to lawsuits, make it harder to fund education and threaten public health and safety by allowing local governments to override state laws.


The initiative is being pushed by California Forward, a nonpartisan government-reform group, with major funding for the signature-gathering process coming from billionaire investor Nicolas Berggruen.


Supporters say it is the result of a multi-year effort to examine the best practices of other states while consulting residents and experts throughout California.



“It was crafted to do what we think is the next right step to fixing California,” said Jim Mayer, executive director of California Forward. “To the extent we have a structural budget deficit, that nobody trusts where the money is going, that nobody knows where all the money is, these are the simple procedures that are being used in other states in the nation.”
 



Proposition 31 seeks to change the annual state budget process to a two-year cycle, which proponents say would force the governor and lawmakers to plan ahead. It would prohibit the Legislature from creating new expenditures of more than $25 million unless lawmakers can show where the money would come from, either through taxes or spending cuts.







Likewise, they can’t cut revenue without showing what programs would be reduced.
Proposition 31 goes on to make a host of other changes, such as requiring the Legislature to make budget bills available to the public at least three days before lawmakers vote on them, allowing the governor to reduce spending during fiscal emergencies and giving local governments more flexibility in administering state-funded programs.

via Visalia Times