Home > Issues > 2008 Propositions (November)

December 9, 2008

Chamber-Supported Political Reform Coming to California

On November 4th, voters approved Proposition 11: California Voters First Act sponsored by California Common Cause. The Chamber was one of the first organizations to support Proposition 11 back in early 2008.

“Year after year, gridlock prevents our state lawmakers from effectively addressing our most pressing issues such as the state budget, health care, education, the impending water crisis, and the environment,” stated Lori Lofstrom, Chair-elect of the Chamber. “Contributing to this ongoing problem is the fact that legislators draw their district lines to guarantee their re-election and are not accountable to voters. Proposition 11 changes this,” continued Lofstrom.

Proposition 11 creates a 14-member independent citizens commission to redraw state legislative district lines based on strict non-partisan rules. Proposition 11 will also ensure that the redistricting process is open and transparent and will respect existing city and county boundaries and communities. It will exclude individuals with obvious conflicts of interest, including elected officials and their staff, from serving on the Commission.

The Chamber supported Proposition 11 because of the need at the state level for Democrats and Republicans to work together. Politicians getting stuck in their ideological corners and not willing to compromise are preventing problems from being fixed. The passage of Proposition 11 ensures that the polarization of our state legislature will be minimized in the coming years enabling a more moderate approach to governing in California.

“The future of our state depends upon leaders who can work together,” stated Blake Christian, Chamber Chairman. “There are too many leaders at both extremes of the political spectrum and very few in the middle. The Chamber is excited to know that our state’s political future is bright now that Proposition 11 will help fix this counterproductive political polarization,” continued Christian.
 

October 27, 2008

Chamber Urges You to Support Proposition 11
 

By Randy Gordon, President and CEO, Long Beach Chamber

In a fair and modern democratic government, the constituents choose their state legislators to act on their behalf. In California, however, the legislators choose their constituents. After the 2000 Census, the state legislators confounded by budget deficits and a state energy crises opted to draw legislative boundaries that benefitted the incumbents. This deal set in stone the polarization of Sacramento and the deadlock we see today. For this reason, the Long Beach Chamber urges you to support Proposition 11.

In the last eight years, the budget has been late seven times. Most recently, the current budget was finally signed into law 85 days late. The state of our budget is an example of the partisan rancor that has led to deadlock in Sacramento. On one side you have the Democrats, beholden to trial lawyers and union special interests, who will not cut spending. One the other side you have Republicans, beholden to anti-tax interests, who will not raise taxes. Then you have the Governor in the middle of it all trying to find compromise but discovering no one wants to work with him.

One of the main reasons why the budget has this deadlock has to do with how legislative seats are drawn. The current redistricting process benefits incumbents, allowing ideologues to control the process and disallowing moderates, like the Governor, to forge compromises. The current system disallows centrists from being elected. If they are elected, they are forced to vote the partisan line or risk their leadership’s ire and threat of being knocked off the next election cycle.

Proposition 11 hopes to change that by having an independent commission draw the lines with the aim of creating more balanced seats. This proposal is unique in that it was written by non-partisan good government organizations like Common Cause and the AARP. It has the support of bi-partisan organizations from the NAACP to the California Chamber of Commerce.

The organizations that are opposed to this plan are the ones that have helped exasperate the problem. The prison guards union and Senator Don Perata, for example, who helped send this state into financial crises are funding a campaign against this proposal. Recently, the prison guards union earmarked $577,000 to spend against this campaign.

The Long Beach Chamber was one of the early supporters to this proposal, endorsing it last February. In the coming weeks, we will be working with the Governor as well as other coalition leaders to advocate and promote Proposition 11. The Chamber urges you to vote “Yes” on Proposition 11 on November 4.
 

September 29, 2008

Long Beach Chamber Releases Positions On November 2008 Ballot

The Long Beach Chamber releases its positions on issues that impact the Long Beach business community appearing on the November 4, 2008 ballot. The Chamber is neutral on Measure I and Propositions 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12.

Measure I

Infrastructure Repair

Long Beach Chamber Position: No Position

Measure I is Mayor Bob Foster’s $638 million Infrastructure bond offering  with a $4.5 million underwriting cost and a $62.5 million debt service fund. Click here for more information on the Chamber's position on Measure I.

Proposition 1A
Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act

Long Beach Chamber Position: Support

Designed to make California less dependent on oil and rising gas prices, Proposition 1A would authorize the state to sell $9.95 billion in bonds in conjunction with available federal funds to create a high-speed train system from San Francisco to Los Angeles and Anaheim. The 800-mile system would be constructed and in revenue service by 2030 with an estimated time of 2 hours and 40 minutes between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Other money will be set aside to make capital improvements to existing rail lines to connect to the high-speed rail system.


Proposition 2
Standards for Confining Farm Animals

Long Beach Chamber Position: Oppose

Proposition 2 would impact most of the egg production facilities in California, leading to higher costs to consumers and driving egg production businesses out of the state. Agriculture businesses continue to be targeted for more restrictions than any other type of business in the state.

Proposition 3
Children’s Hospital Bond Act
 

Long Beach Chamber Position: Support
 

This measure authorizes the state to sell $980 million in general obligation bonds for capital improvement projects at children’s hospitals.
The measure specifically identifies five University of California children’s hospitals as eligible bond fund recipients (receiving 20% of the bond monies).

Proposition 7
Renewable Energy Generation

Long Beach Chamber Position: Oppose

Renewable energy and practical applications are important in order to make the area and state less energy dependent. Unfortunately, Proposition 7 is unreasonable as it sets unobtainable benchmarks for private and public utilities to reach. This will ultimately lead to higher rate costs passed onto consumers.

Proposition 10
Alternative Fuel Vehicles and Renewable Energy

Long Beach Chamber Position: Oppose

This measure allows the state to sell $5 billion in general obligation bonds for various renewable energy and alternative fuels. Proposition 10 would create a financial incentive program for only one type of alternative fuel which would not allow for fair competition of tax payer dollars for other alternative fuels that may lead to greener practices.

Proposition 11
Redistricting

Long Beach Chamber Position: Support

This proposition reforms the way our state elected officials redraw their district boundaries every ten years. This process, known as redistricting, is widely considered a conflict of interest. Specifically, this proposition removes that responsibility from our elected officials and places it in the hands of a 14-person citizen redistricting commission. The commission will be politically balanced: five democrats, five republicans, and four individuals that are not registered with one of the two major parties. Commissioners would be chosen for their impartiality, skills, and to reflect our State’s demographic and geographic diversity.