Ballot Measures

In Colorado, there's a multi-initiative war between business and labor interests. Each side is sponsoring multiple measures. But there are talks underway, with some participation by Gov. Bill Ritter, aimed at avoiding a full war in November. The Denver Business Journal has details.

There are a lot of adjectives being used to describe the long-delayed California state budget passed in the wee hours of the morning on Sept. 16, few of them printable and none complimentary: “disgraceful,” “stop-gap,” “sham,” to cite just a few. But the most pertinent adjective now is “illegal."

Both houses of the legislature passed the budget compromise, giving official sanction to a document full of billions in hidden borrowing and non-existent revenues. The document's budget reforms are also phony, an expansion of a current rainy day fund that has no real protections. I'm told reliably that the governor's top advisors want him to veto it. He should, if only to preserve some credibility on budget issues. It appears likely that the legislature would override his veto.

A sales for property tax swap was taken off the ballot. So were a pair of amendments intended to ease the path for school vouchers. What was the problem? The justices found the ballot description of the measures to be misleading to voters.

In Nevada, not a single ballot initiative has managed to qualify for the ballot this year. There were 17 attempts (and four remain alive in the courts). But initiative sponsors ran afoul of changes in state law and requirements that signatures be collected in every county. The Las Vegas Review Journal breaks this down.

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen appears to have run out of patience with the legislature and the governor, and who can blame her? They have talked of adding measures to the November ballot as part of a budget deal, but there's been no deal and they've ignored all deadlines. The governor and lawmakers seemed to believe that they could simply waive the deadlines in the law and regulations.

Shane Goldmacher at the Sacramento Bee has this excellent item about the problems being created for the November election by the legislature and governor's ability to reach a budget deal. Such a deal would likely include a ballot measures, and the deadlines have been blown. State and county officials are worried about the ability to print and ship ballots. A politically important deadline is upon us. Next Friday, Sept. 5, is the day that international ballots go out to troops serving overseas.

All four Alaska ballot initiatives -- on gambling, campaign finance, greater mining regulation and aerial hunting of animals -- were defeated in that state's primary elections Tuesday. The hunting initiative, Measure 2, which would have banned the aerial hunting of wolves and other creatures, had the strongest showing, but appears to have won only 44 percent of the vote, according to the most recent state election results.

Gov. Schwarzenegger, in a bid to pressure the legislature to adopt a budget, has refused to sign any and all legislation that doesn't have to do with the budget. Yesterday, however, he backed off, telling lawmakers in a letter -- here courtesy of the Sacramento Bee -- that he would make an exception for four bills that have to do with ballot measures. One would make changes to a high-speed rail bond that is already on the November ballot. Another is a water bond that he has long sought.

Now California's legislative leaders support Gov. Schwarzenegger's call for a special election in 2009, which came after a call by your blogger for just such an election. Memo to the consultants, pollsters, mail firms, etc. who profit from ballot measures: As you're writing out your thank-you notes, please remember there is only one "t" in Mathews.