SACRAMENTO — For Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, nothing better illustrates the evils of legislative gerrymandering -- and the need for Proposition 11 on the November ballot -- than Sacramento's two-month budget stalemate.
I'd place California's ridiculous two-thirds majority vote requirement for budget passage higher on the list of culprits that create gridlock. But I wouldn't argue with Schwarzenegger's thesis: Gerrymandering tends to reward extremism in both parties and punish compromise, locking lawmakers into ideological corners.
That was especially true of the last gerrymander in 2001. The Legislature redrew legislative and congressional districts to protect the political status quo, keeping general-election competition to a bare minimum.
Districts were shaped to be "safe" for either a Democrat or a Republican. As a result, the real election battles have been waged in the party primaries. And since low-turnout primaries normally are dominated by party purists, the contests usually have been won by candidates who run the furthest to the left or the right.
Republicans pledge not to raise taxes. Democrats promise a laundry list of social programs the state can't afford.
Then they come to Sacramento and can't compromise.
"With the redistricting the way it is done, Republicans can only win [primaries] if they're way to the right and Democrats can only win if they are way to the left," Schwarzenegger lamented to a Los Angeles news conference Wednesday, pitching for his budget proposal that includes a sales tax increase, billions in spending cuts and budgeting reform.
One big problem for the public is that there is no real accountability for legislators after the primary. No current lawmaker running for reelection faces any serious competition in November.
So legislators who have been procrastinating and shilly-shallying on the budget -- holding up payments, for example, to private vendors and care centers -- won't have to answer for it in November.
Because of gerrymandering, there are few hot races even in "open" seats, where no incumbent is running: probably just one in the Senate and four in the Assembly -- out of 100 contests -- according to Tony Quinn, co-editor of the California Target Book, which chronicles legislative races.
