HEARING OVERVIEW

In the last few years government officials, the media, the public, academia, public interest groups, and others have advocated for fundamental changes to California’s Constitution, its budget process, and other related reforms. Some of these reforms ideas have already advanced, for instance:

· Proposition 11, an initiative measure that requires an independent commission to conduct redistricting for the Legislature and the Board of Equalization, was approved by the voters at the November, 2008 General Election;

· AB 583 (Hancock), the California Fair Elections Act of 2008, which provides for a “clean money” campaign finance reform pilot project, was approved by the Legislature last session and will appear on the June, 2010 Primary Election ballot.
 

· Senate Constitutional Amendment 4 (Maldonado), which provides for an open “top two” primary election system, was approved by the legislature this year and will also appear on the June, 2010 Primary Election ballot.

The purpose of this hearing is to explore and discuss possible additional reforms to the California Constitution and the state budget process. Witnesses will present their views on which specific reforms should be pursued, if any, as well as the best way to achieve them, i.e., the initiative process, Legislative action, or a constitutional convention.

Included in the attached background materials are recent press stories and editorials on relevant subjects, copies of reports produced by various governmental and nongovernmental entities, and selected tables from the website of the National Conference of State Legislatures regarding the budget process throughout the states.