Free Republic

Environmental requirements in San Bernardino County. Transportation projects approved by voters last fall. Such mundane matters have little to do with California's annual budget, but they are among the chief reasons the spending plan for the current fiscal year is almost seven weeks overdue. The reason: California's requirement that the budget pass with a two-thirds vote in each house. It is one of only three states to have the requirement, which gives minority Republicans a rare chance to exert influence. "Quite frankly, there are a few places to which we can leverage those kind of policy issues, and this is...

Opponents labeled it the "blank check initiative." "When you peel away the window dressing, people realize that this is about whether people want Sacramento politicians to have an easier route to raise taxes," said Al Lundeen, spokesman for Californians Against Higher Taxes, a political action committee organized to fight the initiative.