Governor Schwarzenegger inherited a state that was $22 billion in debt, on the verge of bankruptcy with businesses fleeing the state. After outlining reforms in his January 5, 2005, State of the State speech, the governor gave the Democrats in the state legislature 55 days to act on these reforms or he would go to the people. The legislature did not act. On March 1, the governor went to the people with proposed reforms.
One of the most popular of the governor’s reforms calls for taking the responsibility of drawing boundaries for our California Senate, Assembly, Congressional and Board of Equalization districts out of the hands of the legislature and putting it into the hands of a panel of retired judges. There are 173 major political subdivisions in California: 80 seats in the state Assembly, 40 in the state Senate and 53 in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In 2002, exactly three of them changed parties. In 2004, none did.
Districts are currently drawn by the state legislature with one purpose in mind: Keeping incumbents in office. Without competitive legislative districts drawn by a bipartisan panel, California will continue to be in the grip of our overspending state legislature.
Go For It Arnold!
Support the governor’s reforms by writing letters to the editor. Write your thoughts in 125 words or less and e-mail them to letters@mercurynews.com.
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