No on Proposition 76

Sierra Club California Legislative Representative

With the support of the governor, the business-backed Citizens to Save California has proposed an initiative to fundamentally change the budgetary process-imposing a new spending limit, giving the governor broad new powers, and significantly changing Prop 98 (education spending) and Prop 42 (transportation funding).

The aspects of the proposal with the greatest potential impact on the environment are the provisions which allow the governor to declare a fiscal emergency and gain broad authority to cut spending if revenue falls more than 1.5 percent below projected levels, or if the budget reserve account declines by more than half in the fiscal year. Note that the trigger is whether revenue is more than 1.5 percent below forecast levels, not below actual spending levels.

In the event that the governor declares a fiscal emergency, the Legislature would convene in special session. If, after 45 days, one or more bills have not been enacted to remedy the situation, the governor gains the authority to 'reduce items of appropriation on an equally proportionate basis, or disproportionately, at his discretion.'

As an example, revenue could fall 2 percent short of overly rosy projections, triggering the governor to declare a fiscal emergency. The governor then vetoes the Legislature's proposal, and 45 days pass. The governor then has the authority to unilaterally cut funding for the Coastal Commission, the Resources Agency, or any other program (except for debt service, appropriations necessary to comply with federal laws and regulations, or appropriations necessary for a state contract).

The governor gains similar powers if a budget is not in place by July 1. Of course, the governor could cause a budget to not be approved by July 1 simply by vetoing the Legislature's proposal, thereby gaining broad new authority to cut programs.

Another part of the initiative creates a new spending cap, based on the revenue growth over the previous three years. This spending cap would also apply to the expenditure of user and regulatory fees, potentially hamstringing environmental programs that would otherwise be supported by fees (and therefore should be independent of budget constraints).

In simplest terms, the initiative amounts to a massive power grab by the governor. The Los Angeles Times called the initiative 'a really bad idea' written by 'two people who many voters, if not the governor, would label special interests.'

If the governor has anti-environmental leanings, then this initiative could be extremely harmful to the environment. On Nov. 8, vote no on Proposition 76.