Krekorian Targets Expensive Ballot Initiatives
and Gets Unanimous Committee Approval 1

An Assembly committee on Tuesday unanimously approved Assistant Majority Leader Paul Krekorian’s bi-partisan constitutional amendment to ensure that expensive ballot initiatives have a specific stream of revenue from which to pull. Assembly Constitutional Amendment 3 now goes to the Appropriations Committee for review.

The bill, co-sponsored by Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo), will give voters a more informed picture of the budgetary implications inherent in their choices made at the ballot box. If ACA 3 becomes law, any proposed ballot initiative that includes authorization of a general obligation bond measure in excess of $1 billion must include a clearly defined new revenue source either in the forms of a new tax/fee or the reduction or elimination of an existing program(s) of a comparable cost in order to qualify for the ballot through the signature process.

According to the Assembly, most bond measures approved by voters remain on the state’s ledgers for more than 30 years. The last graph in this U.S. Budget and Economy entry shows that California’s bond interest costs have reached a 30-year high.

As LAist noted in its report on ACA 3, “That whole ‘we’ll figure out how to pay for it later’ concept isn’t working out too well these days considering the state’s $20-plus billion budget deficit.”