The clock ticking down on the last night in the California statehouse is always a lot like waiting for last call at a rowdy bar around 2 AM -- you wonder how much damage will done before the last shot.
For years my colleagues and I have stood watch on the California legislature,into the wee hours of the morning, to make sure that politicians and companies didn't a pull a fast one at the last moment. There have been a lot of close calls over the years, and some lost ones too.
Here's the roundup from Friday night's/Saturday morning's last call in the statehouse before 2012:
- Last day legislation to move all ballot initiative measures to the November 2012 ballot, and stop ballot measures on the June primaries, cleared both houses of the legislature. Senate Bill 202 passed every committee and both houses in a single day. It's not clear whether Governor Brown will sign SB 202, but if he did, the public would win big. Special interest groups often target the low turn-out June primary to pass measures the majority of Californians would never approve of. It's better to have the real sentiment of the most Californians voting on ballot measures, rather than allowing corporations, for example, to target a much more friendly electorate in June, when Republicans will turn out big for their presidential primary. Mercury Insurance CEO George Joseph is trying to qualify his insurance surcharge initiative in June, a repeat of the failed Prop 17 from June 2010, for this very reason. He would stand even less a chance of pulling the wool over the eyes of the majority of real California voters in November. Turns out SB 202 stands on strong principle. For decades, prior to 1978, initiatives only went on the November general election ballot, which is what the California constitution requires. Then the legislature officially changed the protocol. If the legislature can change the definition of "general election" to include primary election, it can change the definition back.
Governor Brown hosted a kegger in his office for the legislature after it closed down in the early morning hours. For the public, there wasn't much to celebrate this session, other than that more damage wasn't done
Jamie Court is the president of Consumer Watchdog and author of The Progessive's Guide To Raising Hell.