California Initiatives

Organizers who a decade ago wrote Proposition 187 -- a landmark ballot measure that divided California -- are now gathering signatures for a new initiative that again would attempt to prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving a broad array of public services. Proposition 187 is considered a watershed in state politics, having galvanized activism among opponents and cost Republicans support from some Latinos. But organizers, encouraged by the successful recalling of Gov.

No one today can overlook that it's California's self-indulgent initiative process that's attracting the big political bucks into the state, the way a magnet attracts scrap iron. Year in, year out, the torrent of spending on initiative campaigns swamps the money spent on traditional candidates. Tuesday's ballot, with 11 propositions attracting $350 million in campaign spending, is another data point. Not even Meg Whitman's gubernatorial campaign in 2010, in which the candidate spent $144 million of her own money on her way to a $160-million bottom line, comes close - and that exercise in futility set a spending record.

Here we go again. Having grappled with nine ballot propositions on the June ballot, California voters now must brace themselves for nine more in the November election. Among them are initiatives to cut electricity rates, raise tobacco taxes and expand gambling on Indian reservations. The Times has repeatedly expressed its concern about California's governance by initiative, and this fall's lineup does nothing to diminish the problem.

SACRAMENTO - A proposal to revamp the way California handles its budget and web of state regulations is running into opposition from politicians, unions and various activists who say it would only worsen Sacramento's dysfunction. The wonky measure, Proposition 31, could have far-reaching effects on state government. California Forward, the nonpartisan organization behind the initiative, says its provisions would increase transparency and accountability in a Capitol not known for either.

After a recount of votes, John K. Van de Kamp on Sunday belatedly--and by the skin of his teeth--won the endorsement of the California Democratic Party in his campaign for the governorship. At the same time, he prepared to wrap up his costly, time-consuming and elaborate ballot initiative preparations for the general election in November, freeing him to concentrate on his neck-and-neck June primary election race with Dianne Feinstein.

Prop. 215 is a big joke on the people of California. Anyone who voted for this proposition, which allows the so-called medical use of marijuana, is either a desperate pothead or was greatly misinformed. Now that 215 has passed, we'll see "patients" swarming like locusts to their nearest physician, getting their prescriptions (fake or real) and using them to grow pot for big, easy profits. The temptation will definitely be there. I'm sorry to say the people of California were duped into passing 215 by those "heartbreaking" but misleading Prop.

Scores of California hospitals, under pressure to reduce infections that kill an estimated 12,000 patients every year, say they have managed to cut costs and save lives through an initiative that has nurses and doctors redoubling efforts to prevent deadly germs from taking root. The three-year campaign is bringing together 160 hospitals across the state with the aim of reducing an estimated 200,000 hospital-related infections in California that add $600 million to healthcare costs every year.

Californians tend to feel the same way about their initiative system as they do about Congress or the Legislature: They blame the collective body for a host of ills, but they like their own representatives just fine. Likewise, voters frequently express impatience with the onslaught of election-day measures, but they will vigorously protect their right to sign a petition or vote for a particular measure they believe is crucial. So how can California simultaneously wrest back some control over the initiative process and keep intact what has become virtually a birthright: the people's power to adopt laws and constitutional amendments at the voting booth?

Reporting from Sacramento -- Democrats in the Legislature are trying to make it harder for Californians to pass their own laws at the ballot box, saying the state's century-old initiative process has been hijacked by the special interests it was created to fight and has perpetuated Sacramento's financial woes. In the waning weeks of this year's lawmaking session, legislators will push bills to raise filing fees, place new restrictions on signature gatherers and compel greater public disclosure of campaign contributors.

Hurricane watch Re " Irene takes last swipe at Northeast ," Aug. 29 "Damned if you do, damned if you don't. " Some people actually seem disappointed that the federal and local governments went overboard in their warnings that Hurricane Irene could be a major disaster for the United States — but wasn't. I for one think that is exactly one of the reasons we have a federal government: to protect citizens from potential disasters. A job well done. Steve Binder Oxnard Whenever there's a big windstorm, trees are uprooted and power lines are pulled down.

California's initiative process can be both a wonderfully democratic and perilously dumb way to make law. On no issue could that be more true than the proposed initiative to shut down nuclear power in the state. The initiative would shut down the Diablo Canyon and San Onofre nuclear plants until the federal government approves a permanent disposal site for nuclear waste. The issue is scientifically, environmentally and economically complex, and tangled with powerful emotions. Between the facts and those feelings, guess which will have more influence on the choice people make?

The former "Nader's Raider" who used California's initiative process to regulate auto insurance rates is headed back to the ballot. This time he's spoiling to take on health insurers. Harvey Rosenfield, the combative attorney and consumer advocate who wrote California's landmark Proposition 103 more than two decades ago, is preparing a ballot initiative that would force health insurers to get state government approval before they could raise premiums. Stricter controls are needed to put some restraints on a industry that's reaping fat returns for shareholders and multimillion-dollar salaries for executives while consumers struggle to pay for coverage, Rosenfield said.

Californians tend to feel the same way about their initiative system as they do about Congress or the Legislature: They blame the collective body for a host of ills, but they like their own representatives just fine. Likewise, voters frequently express impatience with the onslaught of election-day measures, but they will vigorously protect their right to sign a petition or vote for a particular measure they believe is crucial. So how can California simultaneously wrest back some control over the initiative process and keep intact what has become virtually a birthright: the people's power to adopt laws and constitutional amendments at the voting booth?

Hurricane watch Re " Irene takes last swipe at Northeast ," Aug. 29 "Damned if you do, damned if you don't. " Some people actually seem disappointed that the federal and local governments went overboard in their warnings that Hurricane Irene could be a major disaster for the United States — but wasn't. I for one think that is exactly one of the reasons we have a federal government: to protect citizens from potential disasters. A job well done. Steve Binder Oxnard Whenever there's a big windstorm, trees are uprooted and power lines are pulled down.

Reporting from Sacramento -- Democrats in the Legislature are trying to make it harder for Californians to pass their own laws at the ballot box, saying the state's century-old initiative process has been hijacked by the special interests it was created to fight and has perpetuated Sacramento's financial woes. In the waning weeks of this year's lawmaking session, legislators will push bills to raise filing fees, place new restrictions on signature gatherers and compel greater public disclosure of campaign contributors.

Scores of California hospitals, under pressure to reduce infections that kill an estimated 12,000 patients every year, say they have managed to cut costs and save lives through an initiative that has nurses and doctors redoubling efforts to prevent deadly germs from taking root. The three-year campaign is bringing together 160 hospitals across the state with the aim of reducing an estimated 200,000 hospital-related infections in California that add $600 million to healthcare costs every year.

Proposition 8's ban on gay marriage will remain in effect while a federal appeals court decides whether it violates the Constitution, the appeals panel ruled Wednesday . Gay rights advocates had asked the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its hold on resuming same-sex marriage while the court reviews U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker's Aug. 4 ruling that Proposition 8 deprives gay couples of their rights to due process and...

As the economy struggles to recover, there were two discouraging bits of news Thursday: Initial jobless claims rose last week, and shipments and new orders of durable goods showed weakness in January. The number of workers filing for unemployment benefits rose by 22,000 last week, to 496,000 from 474,000, according to the Labor Department. But California saw the deepest drop in the number of claims, with 5,540 fewer filings after layoffs eased in the service industry for the week that ended Feb. 13. Kentucky had the sharpest jump in jobless claims, with 2,510 more that came after auto industry and manufacturing job cuts.