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In California it takes a 2/3 vote to (1) increase taxes and (2) pass a budget. Also, California has relatively recently adopted term limits.
This means that State legislators have no incentive to keep government operating, because they will get termed out shortly, so why worry about being re-elected. There is no accountability. Thus, you have CA GOP state legislators simply signing "No To Tax Pledges," then just phoning it in during their term, and voting no every budget or tax increase. There is no incentive to maintain a functioning government. Then, at the end of their term, the GOP runs for a new office, d proudly brags abbout the fact that they voted "no" on taxes.
The Governor is irrelevant because with a 2/3 requirement this means that every budget automatically has the 2/3 requirement needed to overcome a Governor's veto. So, who needs the Governor? What is the Governor going to threaten? A veto? Please.
California's proposition system has essentially created a system where the people have essentially take the power to govern away from the legislature with all these supermajority requirements. Nothing can get done, and with term limits, no one has an incentive to get anything done.
Before the credit crisis, the Democrats and the GOP would simply avoid the whole need to compromise by simply issuing bonds and dumping the crisis on the next Governor and Legislature. However, due to the crisis, California can't borrow its way out of this crisis. The structure of California's budget process precludes any resolution that is not acceptable to 2/3 of the Legislature, which means that a small extreme minority can dictate State financial policy.
I ought to run as a GOP legislatore in California. All I have to do is sign my tax pledge, then wait until the next election where I can proudly point to the fact that I voted "no" regardless of the fact that California continues its steady march to insolvency.
We may hate Willie Brown, but at least he had some incentive to keep California from completely imploding. Now, due to California's strange super majority requirements, the GOP minority really holds the power. It will be interesting to see how California can solve its budget crisis without raising taxes. My take is that they will either have to go into default or simply cut public programs across the board, which will plunge the state into a deeper recession.
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