Can Our Legislature Improve Itself?
California's Committee on Improving State Government has its first meeting, as the state legislature struggles to show an angry state populace that it can reform itself.
George Skelton of the L.A. Times' Capital Journal reports that most legislators, unsurprisingly, blame their ineffectiveness and voter discontent on the fact that they can't keep their cushy jobs longer:
Term limits was the most commonly cited culprit at the hearing, from the political left to the right. Six two-year terms in the Assembly and two four-year stints in the Senate simply aren't enough to gain policy expertise, legislating skills, leadership strength and bipartisan relationships, several said."Term limits is just an awful thing," asserted Assemblyman Tom Berryhill (R-Modesto), speaking publicly as few Republicans would have dared until recent years. "When you're first up here, you're just terrified. If you don't have a good staff, your career is over before it starts."
But California voters, alas for the politicians, have shown they love and support term limits and reject amending it when given the chance. And there are things even term-limited politicians should have time to do:
Self-enacting reforms are not hard to find and several were mentioned: Speed up the committee hearing process so lawmakers don't just cool their heels through winter. Give committees more power over major bills and reduce the dominance of the power-hogging "Big Five" -- the governor and top four legislative leaders. Enact two-year budgets and constantly monitor the money flow. Begin "performance-based" budgeting so failed programs can be scrapped.
Most of all, as state treasurer Bill Lockyer told the committee, our state legislature needs to remember that they are not going to be getting more tax money out of Californians anytime soon, and need to be smarter with what they have.
Past City of Angles blogging on Sacramento's problems with governing and the economy and a potentially "failed state."
The image associated with this post was taken by Flickr user Miss Sophistifunk. It was used under user Creative Commons license.
