Posted on 06/08/2005 7:51:04 PM PDT by calcowgirl
SACRAMENTO - No one uses California's initiative process quite like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who swept into office through the recall election and promptly embarked on a perpetual ballot box campaign.
Born nearly a century ago as a populist tool to break the railroad industry's grip on the Legislature, initiatives have morphed into a billion-dollar industry over the past decade.
Since 2003, Schwarzenegger has relied on ballot measures to burnish his bipartisan sheen while campaigning with Democrats on bond and balanced budget measures, pushed an initiative to cajole lawmakers into rewriting the rules governing workers' compensation, and helped defeat gambling initiatives, among others.
Within days, the Republican governor who fancies himself as the voice of the people is expected to decide whether to call a special election for this fall. At stake are how the state controls spending, draws the political map, grants tenure to public school teachers and allows public employees to pool union dues for political purposes.
Big bucks are also in the balance. If the governor calls an election -- as he has threatened -- experts predict that $200 million or more could be spent fighting, or championing, as many as eight initiatives. Much of that money will pay for 30-second television spots and glossy mailers. But millions will land in the bank accounts of a small cadre of political operatives and insiders who help draft, poll, massage, sell and fund ballot measures.
"It's a full employment act" for political consultants on the left and right, said Sonoma State political scientist David McCuan, who studies direct democracy.
Rather than work through a Legislature controlled by an opposing party, Schwarzenegger turns to the ballot box again and again.
"This is completely unprecedented. This is a governor using the initiative as his primary instrument of lawmaking," said Jim Shultz, a veteran of several initiative campaigns and author of "The Initiative Cookbook."
Interviews and a Knight Ridder analysis of campaign finance reports reveal how and why the initiative industry has flourished, particularly during Schwarzenegger's 19-month tenure:
• Spending on all ballot measures over the past decade has topped $1 billion dollars. Last November, backers and opponents lavished $253 million on measures ranging from Indian gaming to stem cell research, with Schwarzenegger throwing his clout and cash to help sway public opinion on several key measures.
• Initiative campaigns play to Schwarzenegger's strengths -- and he doesn't hesitate to use them. He took his first steps as a politician by pushing Proposition 49, the 2002 after-school initiative. Initiative campaigns allow Schwarzenegger to capitalize on what his advisers consider a unique connection with the public and incorporate his theatrical flair in public events. But propositions also allow him to bypass the polarized Legislature to enact his agenda.
• The governor's initiative mania means big money for the clique of political operatives who comprise Team Arnold -- people who make modest fortunes selling the governor's priorities. The largess spills over to his opponents, too, who went from expecting 2005 to be a ho-hum, nonelection year to readying for another ballot battle.
Although initiatives date back almost a century to Gov. Hiram Johnson's day, Shultz said they were widely regarded as an "amusing sideshow of California politics" until Proposition 13, the landmark 1978 measure that limited property taxes and reinvigorated interest in direct democracy.
Since then, all sorts of special interests and politicians have turned to the ballot to accomplish big things. With Proposition 98 in 1988, California voters decided what slice of the state budget belongs to public schools. They authorized and reauthorized casinos on tribal lands through Propositions 5 and 1A. They enacted term limits via Proposition 140. Voters even outlawed the slaughtering of horses for human consumption with Proposition 6 in 1998.
As ambitions have grown so has the money. The average spending total from supporters and opponents of ballot measures -- including those put on by the Legislature -- was just more than $3 million in 1992. In November 2004, the average was almost $16 million.
Schwarzenegger is uniquely poised to govern by initiative. He's a natural salesman who recites catchy campaign slogans with a trust-me grin. Even as protesters dog his events and rally against him, Schwarzenegger dominates a room. And crowds still flock to see him.
With his popularity sliding, it's hard to predict whether Schwarzenegger's campaign appearances will be as effective this time around, if he calls a special election. But they always make good television -- and frequently persuade voters.
To promote his views, the governor has toured the state in a customized bus and dubbed voters his "powerlifters for progress." He has hopped into an olive green Humvee bearing the fake license plate "Reform 1." He has dragged Radio Flyer wagons full of initiative petitions to elections officials.
In the last election, Schwarzenegger had no success persuading voters to elect more Republicans. But voters agreed with him on 11 of 14 ballot measure picks.
Politicians have used initiatives before to frame issues or help their campaigns. But no one has used them with the effectiveness that Schwarzenegger has. Or to the same extent. It's "a difference of degree," said Democratic strategist Darry Sragow, who worked with Schwarzenegger on last year's successful campaign to pass a bond-and-balanced-budget package, propositions 57 and 58.
"He is able to raise money in very large amounts," Sragow said. "He is able to attract very capable political talent. And he is able to get press coverage whenever he wants. It's a function of who he was before he became governor."
Rob Stutzman, Schwarzenegger's communications director, said the governor likes turning to the ballot, for obvious reasons.
"He has an advantage that past governors just haven't had, which is, frankly, celebrity," Stutzman said. "Also, the unique way in which he came to office has kept people interested in this governor."
The political play, though, is driven by more than personality. It reflects a fundamental shift in the state capital's dynamics. Some experts say an initiative limiting legislative terms helped usher in the new era.
The Legislature today is more partisan and, some contend, less effective than it was decades ago, when it was held up as a national model for good government.
Democrats scoff at that analysis. They accuse the governor of rushing to the ballot instead of negotiating compromises.
"For as long as I can remember, different interest groups have attempted to leverage public policy through the initiative process," said Gale Kaufman, a Democratic strategist. "The governor has just taken that and turned it into an excuse for not doing public policy in the Legislature."
Whatever the cause, it's an only-in-California story, said one national expert.
Larry Sabato tracks political trends and watches legislative races as the director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. It's a "special set of circumstances," he said, to have a Republican governor with such a high profile in a state populated by Democratic voters and legislators.
Even before the present standoff, California tended to turn to the initiative and referendum process more than any other state. But with Schwarzenegger, that tendency has "gotten completely out of hand," Sabato said.
To be sure, initiatives today are big business. Of the 16 states that regularly vote on initiatives, California is the most active, Sabato said.
California has "perfected it," he said. "It's an art form there. There are a lot of jobs and many fortunes riding on California's initiative process."
Between 2001 and 2004, for instance, 160 measures received a ballot title and summary from the attorney general, a necessary step before collecting voter signatures. If the trend holds, more initiatives will grace this decade than any before it.
"Ballot initiatives have become the parallel Legislature," McCuan said. "That's where all groups run -- good groups, bad groups, all groups. The outside, parallel game is where it's at."
What can one say?
I'm GReen with envy. :-}
LOL! Did ya see this one? Looks like he still may bail out, errr, I mean compromise:
http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=3449076&nav=9qrxaoD6
Schwarzenegger is expected to decide by Monday whether to call a special election this November. He has three ballot measures he wants to put before voters that would cap spending, redraw legislative districts and lengthen the probation for public school teachers.
The governor said he wants to negotiate compromise agreements with Democratic leaders on each of his proposals.
Nope, not the case. A clean miss.
Actually, what's at stake is how the state allows public employee UNIONS to run a collection service in which they take money (without even asking) from government workers and use (and it's not a trivial sum) to support liberal politicians and liberal legislation.
The unions never even mention to gov employees that they may opt out of this immensely odoriferous liberal shakedown scheme.
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California has "perfected it," he said. "It's an art form there. There are a lot of jobs and many fortunes riding on California's initiative process."
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Perfected it? Uhh, yeaahhh!!!
Wow,, we have perfected how to screw a state up and do it in a 'No Fault' fashion, some art, huh?
... and even make a few folks some nice chunks of dough as the state heads on its way to the poor house. What a country... uh ,, state.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Proposition 49, after-school-programs
Proposition 57, the economic recovery bond act
Proposition 58, the balanced budget act
Proposition 71, stem-cell research
Proposition 98, education
Ahhh.... so many success stories to tell. LOL.
"I’m a salesman by nature... and California is the easiest sell I’ve ever had."
- - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1/06/04
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
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