Whitman says she would bring ‘more teeth’ to the legislative process

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As the California Legislature’s regular session came to an end without a budget, Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman called for “more teeth” in the legislative process. Whitman said Wednesday that if she were elected in November, she would propose legislation to withhold lawmakers’ salaries if they failed to pass a budget on time. The bill also would withhold legislators’ per diem until they settled on a budget, she said.

‘It seems to me we need more teeth to put into place to get the Legislature focused on this,’ Whitman said. “I would want them not to be able to travel back to their home districts on taxpayer funds, and I would want to make sure there were all the teeth we could possibly find to get this Legislature to come together and pass a budget. It’s not fair to the people of California.’

Whitman spoke to reporters after touring Altergy Systems, which designs and manufactures fuel-cell generators, in Folsom, Calif.

If the Legislature failed to pass her bill, Whitman said she would consider taking it to voters through the initiative process. She also said that if elected she would work to bring legislative leaders together.

“There needs to be five meetings a week of the Big 5,” she said. “The Big 5 would have been in the governor’s office, under my leadership, every day. I would have chained them to the desk to get this done.” -- Michael J. Mishak in Folsom, Calif.