Politics

SACRAMENTO (AP) ― A constitutional convention was used nearly a century ago to wrest California's government from the hands of railroad barons. Today, some say it could help the state out of its current political dysfunction.

The Bay Area Council, which represents the chief executives of Google, Yahoo, Chevron, Wells Fargo and other major San Francisco Bay area businesses, is leading the charge for a state constitutional convention to revamp state government.

"This year's budget deadlock shows better than perhaps any other recent event that our state needs a constitutional convention to fix a governance system that is hopelessly broken," Jim Wunderman, president of the Bay Area Council, said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed to veto the $145 billion spending plan lawmakers sent him after a record-long budget impasse that delayed billions of dollars in payments to schools, medical clinics, daycare centers and state vendors.

In the past year, attempts to reform California's health care market, upgrade its water system and implement long-term fiscal reforms palatable to all sides have failed amid partisan bickering. The Bay Area Council is laying the groundwork to authorize a convention through the Legislature or by ballot initiative.

Among some of the changes being proposed:
• Adopt a two-year budget cycle.
• Reform California's taxing and spending systems, along with its ties to local government spending.
• Remove the two-thirds vote requirement to pass a budget in the Legislature.

California is one of just three states with such a high threshold, along with Arkansas and Rhode Island.

The two-thirds vote requirement is often cited by Democrats, who hold a majority in both houses of the Legislature, as a primary cause of the state's almost annual budget stalemates. It allows Republicans to hold up the budget until their demands are met— demands that often have little or nothing to do with the proposed spending plan.

"Our budget process is broken," said Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, D-Oakland, a member of the Assembly Budget Committee.

The California Constitution initially was drafted in 1849 to establish constitutional officers and the state Legislature. The first constitutional convention convened in 1878 in an attempt to provide a more equitable system of taxation and a stricter regulation of the railroads.

Between 1964 and 1976, the California Constitution Revision Commission made comprehensive revisions and whittled the state's guiding document by 40,000 words, according to the Bay Area Council.

The council began its campaign last month with a column in the San Francisco Chronicle. Under its model, 121 delegates would be selected randomly by auditors to avoid having lawmakers and special interests pick favorites.

The response, Wunderman said, has been overwhelmingly positive from Democrats and Republicans.

"It appears we have successfully tapped a rich vein of frustration driven by the budget crisis, several high-profile legislative failures over the past two years, a negative economy and a realization that maybe the recall wasn't enough," he said.

Wunderman was alluding to the 2003 recall of former Gov. Gray Davis, which elevated Arnold Schwarzenegger to the governor's office.

Longtime supporters of a constitutional convention applaud the council's goal but question whether it could be achieved in the current political climate.

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, a Democrat who served 25 years in the Legislature, said it's unlikely the group can muster the two-thirds vote from the Legislature. He said an initiative process could take years.

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