Joe Mathews

CA EVENT: Blockbuster Democracy

Communications — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/14/2008 - 8:00am

Ninety-seven years ago this month (October 1911), Californians -- egged on by Progressive reformers -- added the recall, the referendum, and the initiative to the state constitution. As California completes its first century of direct democracy and prepares to vote on another ballot crowded with measures, is it time to reform the reform?

Californians treasure the right to decide public policy questions at the ballot. But there is growing concern about how direct democracy broadly, and the initiative specifically, work in practice. Voters tell pollsters that money and interest groups have too much power in the initiative process. Voters often suggest they are confused about the true effects of proposed ballot measures. State legislative leaders say that their discretion is limited -- and attempts at long-term planning are defeated -- by the tendency of voters to make budget and spending decisions at the ballot. Local officials encounter a similar problem when it comes to issues of land use.

There has been plenty of commentary about the problems with the initiative process. This event will offer ways to change it.

Joe Mathews on KCRW | 'Which Way L.A.? - A Budget Finally Passes, but Schwarzenegger Says He'll Veto It'

Communications — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:48:00 -0400

New America in the News:

The longest budget stalemate in state history is not over yet. Governor Schwarzenegger says he'll veto the plan finally approved this week by both parties. He says it contains "fake budget reform" and makes the fiscal crisis even worse because "it kicks that can down the alley" into next year.

Guests:

Ed Mendel: Sacramento Bureau Chief for the San Diego Union Tribune
Joe Mathews: Irvine Senior Fellow, New America Foundation
Kevin Starr: Professor of History at the University of Southern California

LINK to audio

California's Political Environment May Prove Too Toxic for Green Energy Propositions

Articles — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:14:00 -0400

It would seem that measures promoting renewable energy and alternative fuels would be shoo-ins here where gas prices are among the nation's highest. Two thirds of Californians polled say they want their state to be a leader in advancing technologies that reduce pollution and combat climate change.

But a pair of ambitious ballot initiatives--Proposition 7 (aka "Big Solar") and Proposition 10 ("Big Natural Gas")--designed to do just that appear to be in trouble because of growing fiscal concerns. Prop 7 would require utilities to procure half of their power from renewable resources by 2025 and Prop 10 calls for a $5-billion bond, with most of the money earmarked for… more

Will There Be Powdered Wigs?

Articles — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:22:00 -0400

California's elites are talking, and here's what they're saying: this governor can't get things done, the legislature is hopeless, the entire state government is dysfunctional. (OK, just because they're elites, they're not wrong. These are Western Elites, not the dreaded Eastern Elites who are being so, so, so unfair to Sarah Palin). The you know what has hit the fan. The only way to fix this is top-to-bottom reform.

So let's have a constitutional convention.

What does your blogger think? Put the convention in some place nice (Monterey, maybe, or how about Coronado?) and I'm there, live blogging every second. But while I hate to burst bubbles (OK, I… more

Joe Mathews in San Jose Mercury News | 'California Budget 101: A Guide to What's Gone Wrong in Sacramento'

Communications — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:08:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Q Where did that two-thirds rule come from anyway?

A Ironically, the idea came from Democrats in the 1930s, according to Joe Mathews, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. After a long period in the minority, Democrats came into power and wanted some protections in case they didn't remain there. Voters passed a constitutional amendment with a number of budget reforms, including the two-thirds rule for any budget that grew by 5 percent or more. Three decades later, California voters approved a follow-up measure saying that all budgets need to be passed by two-thirds of legislators before heading to the governor's desk. LINK

Schwarzenegger's Recall Gamble

Articles — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:59:00 -0400

California's prison guards union, angry about years of contract and other battles with the state government, announced a petition drive Monday to recall Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The governor's initial response was to denounce the effort as a threat designed to secure the guards an unreasonable pay increase. "The state should not spend more money than we take in, and their intimidation tactics will not make me change my mind whatsoever, because I happen to not represent the [guards union]," he said. "I represent the people of California."

But, if the union's recall drive proves to be serious, the wiser course for Schwarzenegger would be not… more

Joe Mathews in the Los Angeles Times | 'In the Political Battleground of Colorado, a Labor-Business Fight Is Raging'

Communications — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:29:00 -0400

New America in the News:
"It's fair to say that Colorado will be the center of ballot initiative world in November," said Joe Mathews, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan New America Foundation, which follows voter initiatives. "The business-labor [ones] likely will be the biggest, most bitter and hard-fought ballot fight in the country." LINK

Why Monterey Would Be a Cool Capital

Articles — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 09:20:00 -0400

California's elected leaders are sweating out another summer of budget stalemate. Temporary state workers are hot under the collar after losing their jobs, and the permanent employees may see their paychecks cut. Commentators are heatedly blasting the lack of a budget and recycling old ideas about how to change the state's budget process, none of them politically viable. What better way to lower the budget heat than to relocate state elected leaders to someplace cool?

California is a big state, and there's no particular reason that legislators have to gather and negotiate a budget in hot and humid Sacramento. So here's… more

There’s No Paying in Baseball

Articles — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 12:31:00 -0400

This year’s Little League World Series, which began on Friday, is a lavish, nationally televised American sporting event. At the site of the series in South Williamsport, Pa., there is a tent for the tournament’s corporate sponsors to show off their products, an instant-replay system to decide close calls and a perfectly groomed, two-stadium baseball complex.

For all of the tournament’s seductive gloss, Little League was born in poverty. In 1938, Carl E. Stotz, a Williamsport oil company clerk, lost his job when the business shut down the plant where he worked. As Stotz explained in his 1992 autobiography, “A Promise Kept,” when he wasn’t working the odd… more

Joe Mathews on KCRW Radio | 'Can Governor Schwarzenegger Slash the Payroll to Keep a Promise?'

Communications — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:23:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Joe Mathews discussed California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state budget, on KCRW, an NPR station.

(KCRW)--In the recall election against Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger promised to end the annual budget crisis once and for all. But once again this year there’s no state budget, and the revenue shortfall is 15 billion dollars. Schwarzenegger’s public opinion rating has dropped to 40% and the legislature’s is a lot lower than that. Now Schwarzenegger says he’s cutting the salaries of state workers—down to the federal minimum wage... LINK to story