A day after an angry and frustrated Californiaelectorate trounced five of six measures on a special election ballot,an influential Bay Area business group announced their intention torestructure state government by holding a rare constitutionalconvention.
Dubbed "Repair California," the campaign is being led by the Bay Area Council, a San Francisco-based business and public policy advocacy organization.
During a press conference held Wednesday in Sacramento, the group called for the California Legislature to placea measure on the November 2010 ballot which would ask voters to providethemselves the allowance of amending the state constitution directly,bypassing the legislature. Repair California officials also wantlawmakers to place a companion measure on the same ballot asking votersto authorize a future date for such a convention and to approve whatissues convention delegates should debate.
Voters at a later election would then be required to approve any changes to the constitution proposed by the delegates. Ifthe legislature does not place the measures on the ballot, the RepairCalifornia campaign will use the initiative process to do so, officialswith the organization said.
Jim Wunderman, Bay Area Council's president andchief executive officer, said the campaign is well past due and hasbeen carefully considered and vetted from a number of leadingCalifornia groups.
"Wedo not make this move lightly," Wunderman said in a prepared statement."We have spent a great deal of time weighing the pros and cons of thisidea, and after meeting with hundreds of groups and citizens across thestate, we know the people are with us. Enough is enough. The severityof our problems and the unlikelihood that existing Sacramentostructures can provide a solution mean now is the time for decisiveaction."
According to the campaign's web site, Repair California wants to make these changes to the constitution:
--Governance,including the structure of the legislative and executive branches ofgovernment, with the latter to include State agencies and commissions.
--Elections, including the initiative and referenda processes, campaign finance, and term limits.
--The Budget, including the budget process and relatedrequirements, such as the two-thirds legislative vote required to passa budget, the term and balancing of a budget, and mandated spending.
--Revenue distribution, including the revenue relationship between local and state government
Joining Bay Area Council officials Wednesday in supporting the Repair California campaign was the progressive netroots Courage Campaign, the Western States unit of Common Cause and the conservative Lincoln Club of Orange County among others.
"AConstitutional Convention returns power to the people as was originallyintended," said Rick Jacobs, founder and chair of the 700,000 memberCourage Campaign. "The Special Election is the latest example of theGovernor and the Legislature turning to the voters to make theirdecisions. A constitutional convention just 'cuts out the middleman'and give voters the power to make California governable."
RepairCalifornia's web site suggests that an actual constitutional conventionwould involve about 120 delegates, could last for several weeks monthsand could cost state tax payers as much as $23 million -- the amountthe state of Illinois paid when it held its constitutional conventionlast year.