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2008
Why Schwarzenegger's Redistricting Plan
Won't Work
California Majority Report.com
May 13, 2008
Tony Quinn: Redistricting Reform OK, But
It's Only A Start
Sacramento Bee
May 11, 2008
Governor May Face Donor Fatigue
Contra Costa Times
May 11, 2008
Dan Walters: Competing Proposals For Remap
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 2008
Initiative On Redistricting Closer To
Ballot
San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Nunez Pushes Ethics Plan As Rival Petitions
Are Filed
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 2008
To Get Leadership Reform, We First Need
Redistricting
Los Angeles Daily News
May 1, 2008
Good Intentions Could Harm Redistricting
Ballot Measure
Los Angeles Times
April 28, 2008
Redistricting On Track To Qualify,
Consultant Says
New America Foundation.com
April 23, 2008
Why Are GOP Contributors Putting Big Money
Into Redistricting Reform?
California Progress Report.com
April 19, 2008
Gov's
Giving To Remap Measure Tops $1 million
Sacramento Bee Capital Alert
April 21, 2008
‘Due
Process’ Democrats Have Their Heads Buried in the California Sand
California Progress Report.com
April 20, 2008
Opinion: Seeing The Light
Los Angeles Daily News
April 19, 2008
California
Voters FIRST Presents A Balanced And Bipartisan Effort For Redistricting
Reform
California Progress Report.com
April 17, 2008
Schwarzenegger's
Redistricting Plan Comes Under Fire
Contra Costa Times
April 17, 2008
Group Says Plan Will Put A Stop To
Gerrymandering
The Simi Valley Acron
April 4, 2008
The Need For Redistricting Reform From
This California Democrat’s Perspective
California Progress Report.com
April 4, 2008
Labor Says No To
Schwarzenegger/Republican/Common Cause Redistricting Measure
The California Majority Report.com
April 02, 2008
Revenge In Attack On Legislative
Redistricting?
California Progress Report.com
March 31, 2008
Weintraub: Governor Gets Another Shot At
Redistricting Reform
Sacramento Bee
March 30, 2008
Editorial: Can't Legislature Do Better Than
Bills On Dogs, Donkeys?
The Fresno Bee
March 30, 2008
Walters: Voters Irate At Budget Posturing
Sacramento Bee
March 28, 2008
New Foundation To Campaign For More Efficient
California Government
Sacramento Bee
March 27, 2008
Editorial: California Voters Should Support
Redistricting Ballot Measure
Fresno Bee
March 24, 2008
Editorial: Redraw the Map
Los Angeles Daily News
March 22, 2008
Walters: Court Ruling Offers Hope to
Dysfunctional California Politics
Sacramento Bee
March 19, 2008
Supreme Court to Hear Major Redistricting
Case
The Thicket at State Legislatures (ncsl.com)
March 18, 2008
Editorial: Let Citizens Redraw the Map
The Torrance Daily Breeze
March 17, 2008
Walters: Redistrict Reformers Miss Mark
Sacramento Bee
March 10, 2008
Let Citizens
Redraw Map
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
March 9, 2008
Governor Proposes Redistricting Ballot
Measure
North County Times
March 8, 2008
Redistricting Initiative Has Strong
Republican Backing
San Jose Mercury News
March 6, 2008
Governor Gathers Signatures to Qualify
Redistricting Measure
San Jose Mercury News
March 4, 2008
Manipulative Lawmakers Playing To The Crowd
Fresno Bee
February 14, 2008
State Voters Need To Do What Lawmakers
Won't
Los Angeles Daily News
February 14, 2008
Editorial: What We Need In Sacramento,
Redistricting, Not Retaliation
San Jose Mercury News
February 14, 2008
Redistricting Reform, Not Longer Terms, Is
The Answer
California Republic.org
February 12, 2008
The Buzz: A Hardball Tactic Could Ricochet
Sacramento Bee
February 11, 2008
Wake Up, Sacramento Media! Wake Up! Wake
Up! Wake Up!
San Diego Union Tribune
February 8, 2008
Editorial: Passive Aggressive Lawmakers
Just Play to the Crowd
Fresno Bee
February 8, 2008
Nunez Takes Blame For Prop. 93 Loss
Los Angeles Daily News
February 7, 2008
Weingand: Voters Got A Whiff and Said 'No'
Sacramento Bee
February 7, 2008
Lawmakers Believe In Term Limits But
Oppose The Measure
North County Times
February 4, 2008
Good For Us
Los Angeles Times
February 4, 2008
Commentary: A Conversation with Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger
Sacramento Bee
January 20, 2008
Walters: Two Party Structure Under Fire
Sacramento Bee
January 18, 2008
Walters: Governor's Brownian Flip-Flops
Sacramento Bee
January 16, 2008
Editorial: Corruption of a Good Idea
San Francisco Chronicle
January 15, 2008
Governor Supports Term Limit Measure
Sacramento Bee
January 15, 2008
A Deceptive Prop. 93
San Francisco Chronicle
January 10, 2008
Use Prop. 93 To Say 'No"
dailybreeze.com
January 3, 2008
more
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Wiegand: Voters Got a Whiff
and Said, 'No'
By Steve Wiegand, columnist
Sacramento Bee
February 7, 2008
Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year, and being it's the
Year of the Rat, it seems appropriate to reflect on Proposition 93.
Of course it would be more appropriate were it the Year of the
Skunk.
Those of you who recall Tuesday's election will remember Prop. 93
was the ploy by Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, state Senate
President Pro Tem Don Perata and other termed-out legislators to
hold on to their jobs a while longer by changing the rules.
The pitch was that the actual total number of years a California
legislator may serve would have been shortened from the current 14
years to 12. Instead of having to split the time between the two
houses (eight in the Senate, six in the Assembly), the proposed
rules would have let lawmakers serve all 12 years in one house.
That would have allowed Núñez, Perata and 40 other incumbents
now in their last terms to stick around for as much as six more
years.
And that was the whole point of a scheme that had stink all over
it from its conception in late 2006.
After settling internal squabbling about specifics, the
proposition's plotters had to ensure they could get it before voters
in time. They couldn't wait until the June 2008 primary, because it
would be too late for them to file for re-election.
But an early presidential primary would be ideal. To get Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger to go along, they pledged to tie term limits
changes to redistricting reform.
But once the Feb. 5 special primary was set, Democratic
legislative leaders came down with amnesia when it came to
redistricting.
It took the amnesia bug a bit longer to bite the governor. First,
Schwarzenegger said he wouldn't support term limits changes without
redistricting.
But in mid-January, the guv executed an Olympic-class flip-flop.
Apparently coming to the sudden realization that he was going to be
facing the state's major budget woes while three of the four
legislative leaders were being transformed into lame ducks,
Schwarzenegger maintained with a straight face that
"Proposition 93 is good public policy irrespective of
redistricting."
Meanwhile, Núñez and company put the arm on the usual suspects
to raise more than $15 million for a pious "good
government" ad campaign. Such public-spirited groups as big
Indian casino tribes, the drug companies, the labor unions, and
other organizations that from time to time have business before the
Legislature chipped in.
Unfortunately for the Prop. 93 conspirators, opponents found some
sugar daddies of their own. State Insurance Commissioner Steve
Poizner, a billionaire who wants to be governor, ponied up $2.5
million from his personal cookie jar.
The prison guards union, angry that legislators had burned them
on a lucrative new contract last summer, kicked in $2 million.
Virtually every newspaper in the state came out against the scheme.
And despite a confusing ballot summary written by Democratic
Attorney General Jerry Brown's office, voters throughout the state
figured it out. Almost-total returns show Prop. 93 lost 53.6 percent
to 46.4 percent. It fooled a majority of voters in only seven of 58
counties.
The coup de proposition may actually have come last week, when a
major health insurance reform bill championed by Núñez was
squashed in the Senate. That blocked pro-93 forces from trotting out
before voters and saying "See? We actually got something
done."
Núñez seems to be taking what amounts to the end of his
legislative career rather gracefully.
"I will continue working with my colleagues … to ensure
that our state can find the right path for the future," he said
in a statement early Wednesday.
Maybe. If he does, it might clear the air of 93's lingering odor.
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