Begging for Change

by Annie Scott
January 16, 2010

Here’s what’s going on in a land far away but not so far apart from the Mitten …

Here in sunny California, the forecast is bleak for state government. The budget is in an epic $20-billion hole. Public services have been slashed and burned. Ahnold is loudly demanding that Congress give the state federal funds he says are overdue — ruffling plenty of important feathers and ticking off other states. And the legislature … well … more about lawmakers in a minute.

I live in the midst of one gigantic (albeit beautiful) mess of a state.

Even the state’s overabundant, homeless Chihuahua population has relocated to the East Coast, thanks to New York’s demand for the pups. Bet they’d finally had enough of California’s problems, too.

While California’s lawmakers and governor haven’t done much to resolve the state’s major issues, hundreds of new laws took effect January 1 to address other issues. The infamously gridlocked legislature somehow managed to agree on enough new measures in 2009 that Governor Schwarzenegger signed 696 of them into law – 73 percent of what made it to his desk.

How do these new laws fix the state’s daunting troubles? Among my favorites:

• A law, named after Donda West, the late mother of rapper Kanye West, to prohibit elective cosmetic surgery unless the patient is first cleared by a physical examination.
• A law that increases penalties for paparazzi who take and sell photos of celebrities engaging in personal or familial activity, championed by Jennifer Aniston in her latest role: lobbyist.
• A ban on the dairy industry’s practice of shortening cows’ tails unless necessary.
• A law that reduces the penalty and offense for betting in office pools.
• A law that prohibits talent agents from charging advance fees.

Only in California.

Amusement aside, there were actually a few useful, far-reaching new laws, too. After a decades-long stalemate, the legislature was able to compromise on a contentious package of measures designed to enhance the quality, quantity and reliability of California’s water supply.

Throughout the past year, however, most of California lawmakers’ time was devoted to dealing with budget shortfalls totaling roughly $60 billion, caused in part by the national recession and the state’s ravaged job and housing markets.

Unfortunately, none of these hundreds of new laws will address the root causes of the state’s deepening financial crisis. As countless pundits, scholars and officials have pointed out, California’s many challenges are largely systemic.

No matter how much loose change, if any, Schwarzenegger — the self-proclaimed “Collectinator” (I kid you not, it was a name he campaigned on!) — is able to shake out of Washington’s tattered pockets, it will not change the fact that a certifiably overzealous ballot initiative process and out-of-control budgeting system, among other fatal flaws, are helping drive the state further into the ground.

The tarnished Golden State’s lawmakers need to step it up soon by offering some real solutions, or at least laying solid groundwork to build upon. People throughout the state are intensely angry about the government’s incompetence, and that anger is reaching fever pitch. Calls for a constitutional convention are louder than ever and the familiar path of citizens putting their own proposals on the ballot is starting to look like a highway.

My own radar was confirmed by a recent poll from the Public Policy Institute of California. The results suggest that only 13 percent of California’s registered voters approve of the job the legislature is doing. Among likely voters, approval is at 10 percent. Gov. Schwarzenegger, now in lame duck territory, is facing his own sub-30-percent approval ratings as key staffers abandon ship left and right. It seems he’s trying to figure out how to lead but hasn’t the slightest clue how, especially with his clout diminishing.

As in most state capitals, finger pointing is a highly popular pastime in Sacramento. But here, real political leadership feels nonexistent. Optimistic as the Governator’s overly chummy and superlative-laden ode to California was in his recent State of the State address, no amount of gimmicky, superficial sheen can change the fact that this state, on his watch, is teetering dangerously close to financial ruin.

In response to this gloomy, chaotic state of affairs, voters have been busy proposing dozens of new ballot initiatives on their own. Some 30 new proposals are currently en route to the ballot box. Not surprisingly, some are aimed at punishing lawmakers. Others call for radical change. Lawmakers, pollsters and political consultants say the rage that underlies all of these measures has not been seen in decades.

Ironically, as the LA Times pointed out, it was a number of past ballot initiatives that helped force the state into its current budget fiasco by simultaneously mandating spending while limiting taxation. Yet the flurry of new proposals indicates many voters still believe they, not elected officials, are the key to moving their state back from the brink of catastrophe. Talk about a vote of no confidence.

So while California’s celebs can rest easier now that they have new recourse against paparazzi, and dairy cows against shears, regular voters are restlessly demanding real change from Sacramento that will mend the state’s woes. And they’ll continue hijacking the ballot initiative process until they get it.

Annie Scott lives and works in San Diego and sends dispatches back to her beloved Michigan.