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California Truly Ruled by the People?
Aired August 25, 2003 - 15:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Through the years, California voters have approved a lot of ballot initiatives, and some of them have proved to be very expensive for state lawmakers to uphold.
Our Bruce Morton has some thoughts on voter mandates and their wider impact on democracy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRUCE MORTON, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nobody suggests Gray Davis has been a great governor, but any California governor, any California legislature, would have a hard time making the state work, because the voters have put so many restrictions on what they can do.
E.J. DIONNE, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: They might as well recall Davis, not replace him, recall the whole state legislature, and just hire an administrator to administer what the voters have passed. It's very, very difficult to run a state with this many mandates.
MORTON: For instance? Well, back in 1978, they passed Proposition 13, which lowered property taxes by 60 percent and limited any future increases and said any tax increase had to pass the legislature by a super majority.
In 1988, Proposition 98 mandated that education spending stay constant, plus increases for inflation and population growth. In 1994, Proposition 184, a tough three-strikes-and-you're-out law, meant the state had to spend money on prisons and guards. In March 2002, Proposition 42 mandated that the state sales tax on gasoline be spent only on transportation. The legislature had no say in how to spend it.
Last November, they reelected Davis and passed four initiatives: create a trust fund for emergency homeless shelters, money to overhaul education facilities, a new wave of clean water bonds, and increased spending on after-school programs, Arnold Schwarzenegger's $550- million-a-year program. One scholar suggests the four added up to $40 billion in new money. And the legislature can't do anything about any of this.
DIONNE: It's about how you do democracy. And the legislatures are about -- legislatures and governors are about making tradeoffs. And you can't make tradeoffs against mandates passed in one election and then another mandate passed in another election.
PROTESTERS: Governor Davis must go! MORTON: And does this direct democracy mean the people rule? No. Political consultants will, if you have the money, guarantee to get your initiative, whatever it is, on the ballot. The anti-Davis recall movement lagged until Republican Congressman Darrell Issa put up $1.7 million of his own money to pay people to collect signatures. Direct democracy? The people rule? Not hardly.
Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 25, 2003 - 15:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Through the years, California voters have approved a lot of ballot initiatives, and some of them have proved to be very expensive for state lawmakers to uphold.
Our Bruce Morton has some thoughts on voter mandates and their wider impact on democracy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRUCE MORTON, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nobody suggests Gray Davis has been a great governor, but any California governor, any California legislature, would have a hard time making the state work, because the voters have put so many restrictions on what they can do.
E.J. DIONNE, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: They might as well recall Davis, not replace him, recall the whole state legislature, and just hire an administrator to administer what the voters have passed. It's very, very difficult to run a state with this many mandates.
MORTON: For instance? Well, back in 1978, they passed Proposition 13, which lowered property taxes by 60 percent and limited any future increases and said any tax increase had to pass the legislature by a super majority.
In 1988, Proposition 98 mandated that education spending stay constant, plus increases for inflation and population growth. In 1994, Proposition 184, a tough three-strikes-and-you're-out law, meant the state had to spend money on prisons and guards. In March 2002, Proposition 42 mandated that the state sales tax on gasoline be spent only on transportation. The legislature had no say in how to spend it.
Last November, they reelected Davis and passed four initiatives: create a trust fund for emergency homeless shelters, money to overhaul education facilities, a new wave of clean water bonds, and increased spending on after-school programs, Arnold Schwarzenegger's $550- million-a-year program. One scholar suggests the four added up to $40 billion in new money. And the legislature can't do anything about any of this.
DIONNE: It's about how you do democracy. And the legislatures are about -- legislatures and governors are about making tradeoffs. And you can't make tradeoffs against mandates passed in one election and then another mandate passed in another election.
PROTESTERS: Governor Davis must go! MORTON: And does this direct democracy mean the people rule? No. Political consultants will, if you have the money, guarantee to get your initiative, whatever it is, on the ballot. The anti-Davis recall movement lagged until Republican Congressman Darrell Issa put up $1.7 million of his own money to pay people to collect signatures. Direct democracy? The people rule? Not hardly.
Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
