Legislative Leaders and California Forward Announce Major State Government Reform Package

SACRAMENTO – Today Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles), Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), and representatives of California Forward announced a major package of reforms to improve government effectiveness in California, stabilize state finances, increase accountability and enhance public oversight of government operations.

For the past seven months, the Legislature has engaged in a bicameral conversation about reform through the hearings of the Senate and Assembly Select Committees on Improving State Government, chaired by Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) and Assemblymember Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles). Ideas discussed in the hearings were also reflected in proposals of outside groups and individuals.  The reform package announced today resulted from melding the work done by the Senate and Assembly Select Committees on Improving State Government and good-government group California Forward.

The Legislature will amend the constitutional reforms proposed by California Forward into constitutional amendments in the Assembly and the Senate that will be vetted through the committee process in both houses. Additionally, the Legislature will undertake a series of institutional reforms to improve oversight, prioritize key issues and promote bipartisanship.

“California Forward has presented a unique opportunity to begin changing our system,” Steinberg said.  “We will fix what we can on our own and work to put constitutional change on the ballot as soon as possible.”

“As I said when I was sworn-in, this needs to be a year of real and meaningful reform,” Pérez said. “That’s why I am pleased to join my colleagues and the leadership of California Forward to advance a set of proposed solutions that help make our government more accountable and effective.”

“California’s fiscal crisis provides the Legislature with a historic opportunity to reform state government,” DeSaulnier said. “We know we can't fix everything at once - but we must get started with changes we can make on our own along with putting the best ideas of outside groups like California Forward through the legislative process.”

“Our reform package is comprehensive, practical, and balanced. It advances big ideas Democrats support, major changes Republican favor, and bipartisan reforms that just make sense,” said Feuer. “This is the kind of compromise that Californians rightly demand of us.”

For a comprehensive description of the constitutional amendments and institutional reforms, see the attached document.

• Click here to view the Comprehensive Reform Package.

The constitutional amendments will include the following elements of the California Forward proposal:

• Reducing the vote threshold for passing a budget to a simple majority vote.
• Raising revenues would still require a 2/3 majority vote.
• Requiring legislators to forfeit pay and per diem if a budget is not passed on time.
• Giving authority to the Governor to reduce spending in the Budget Act if the Legislature does not pass a measure to address a fiscal emergency.
• Requiring the Governor to include longer-term budget forecasts.
• Limiting the use of “one-time” revenue for one-time purposes.
• Establishing performance standards for state programs that are periodically reviewed.
• Requiring a 2/3 vote threshold for fees that replace taxes.
• Requiring lawmakers to identify funding sources for bills that cost the state at least $25 million per year.

Legislative reforms include:

• Institutionalizing oversight of the executive branch as one of the Legislature’s most important ongoing duties.
• Requiring committee chairs to prioritize a small list of issues and report them to leadership.
• Re-invigorating the Sunset Review process to evaluate the effectiveness of boards and commissions.
• Reducing by 1/3 the number of bills members may carry; allow an exception of up to 2 bills to bipartisan-authored measures.

Legislative Leaders Announce Major State Government Reform Package

(Sacramento) – Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles), Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), and representatives of California Forward have announced a major package of reforms to improve government effectiveness in California, stabilize state finances, increase accountability and enhance public oversight of government operations. The reform package includes work done by the Senate and Assembly Select Committees on Improving State Government and California Forward. Here’s more from Assembly Speaker Pérez in this Assembly Access video.

Government Reform Package Improves Budget Process and Accountability

(Sacramento) - Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) says the government reform package was developed by the bi-partisan good government group California Forward and state legislative committees. Speaker Pérez says the reforms will make the state’s budget process more efficient and effective, includes penalties for lawmakers if a budget is not completed on time, makes state government more transparent and improves accountability. Here’s more from Speaker Pérez in this Assembly Access video.

Excerpted from www.asmdc.org.