End the Tyranny of the Minority in California: Sign the California Democracy Act petition

The California state budget has been in crisis for years, even prior to the Great Recession of 2008. California, which was once the model for the rest of the world with its well-maintained infra-structure, affordable higher education, innovative school systems, and well managed state parks, has now sunk to being one of the lowest rated states in the bond markets. Every indicator of the health of public services is at or near the bottom. What precipitated this dramatic decline? California is still one of the richest areas in the world. We are, by ourselves, the eight largest economy in the world. Yet year after year the state is snarled in political gridlock, and the budget is passed later and later, as the entire nation watches in dismay at the spectacle in Sacramento.

This is not because, as the mainstream media attempts to frame the issue, that the legislature just can’t get its act together. There are many smart, well-intentioned elected officials who want to provide good schools, safe air and water, well-maintained public parks, community health clinics, and all the other essential services that define a decent society. They are being held hostage to a minority of right-wing Republican state legislators, mostly from Central California, who refuse to pass any budget until they have extracted their pound of flesh by funneling money into pet projects in their district and shredding the social safety net to the point of indecency to uphold their Grover Norquist anti-tax pledge. They would rather play chicken with the fate of millions of California residents until they force the Democratic majority to accede to their unjust and anti-social demands. It is hard to not come to the conclusion that these people are inflicting a sociopathic political ideology on the citizens of this state. They really don’t care if the people of the state of California sink into second world status, as long as their corporate patrons retain their immoral tax breaks. They want to ‘starve the beast’, and by now it’s pretty damn skinny.

How does this small minority (currently 25 Democrats vs. 14 Republicans in the State Senate) inflict their perverse will on us? They can exercise this undemocratic and disproportionate influence because of one of the little-known provisions of Prop. 13, passed in 1978, which requires a 2/3rds majority to pass a budget. The general public is not aware of the ugly reality of state politics, which is that a small group of zealous conservative ideologues can tank the state over and over again, even though they represent a small minority of the citizens of the state. Remove this undemocratic barrier, and we would have decent budgets, on time, every year. Passing this one simple initiative, the California Democracy Act, would end the “budget crisis” immediately. We have enough money in this state to take care of our infrastructure and our health and human services. All we need is the political will to act on what we know is right.

The California Democracy Act

"All legislative actions on revenue and budget must be determined by a majority vote."

 Ben Boyce

      ben.boyce@livingwagesonoma.org

      www.livingwagesonoma.org 

The accompanying MP3 file is a weekly radio program on KSVY, a community radio station in the Sonoma Valley. The segment, “Deconstructing Politics”, is broadcast on “Morning in Sonoma”, hosted by Sonoma councilman Ken Brown, and co-hosted by Beth Hadley (AKA ‘The Dance Diva’) every Tuesday morning at around 9 AM, streamed on KSVY.org and simulcast on SVTV Channel 27.