About Prop. 140: History Suggests It Isn’t Over Yet

On the evening the bad news came to Sacramento, Willie Brown threw a party. This was the usual election night party, up on the second floor of the state Capitol. In Willie’s office.

I say “Willie’s office,” but you should understand what that implies. The Speaker of the Assembly commands most of the south wing of the second floor. Like the Capitol itself, Willie’s office constitutes something of a period piece. The rooms are relics of the Gold Rush, with mahogany doors rising 20 feet, old gaslights fitted with electric bulbs, and many potted palms. These rooms are grand, ornate, and have all the sugary splendor of a South American brothel.

Here the Speaker placed big-screen televisions so the faithful could watch the will of the people express itself. The chief clerks and secretaries and liaison men all mingled amid the splendor, munched their canapes and learned, fairly early in the evening, that the people of California wanted to throw them out.

Proposition 140 had passed. You might think that this news would have converted Willie’s party to something of a wake. Pensions and jobs had just disappeared. Many jobs.

But oddly it did not. The regulars swigged their Calistoga water, cheered loudly when elections went their way, and disappeared into the cool night looking inexplicably happy.

Maybe they know something we don’t. And maybe it’s this: The reform game in Sacramento is a very long one. The struggle over 140 is not over, it’s hardly begun, and the odds, if anything, rest with them.

That is the peculiar history of reform by initiative. Bill George, the assistant chief clerk of the Assembly, has made a minor hobby of documenting campaigns to reform Sacramento. The lesson, he says, gets repeated over and over.

Take the year 1911, for example. That was the year the initiative process itself was established. How was it established? By a constitutional amendment placed on the ballot. And it came complete with ballot arguments, just like today.

The argument in favor of the initiative promised that the mere presence of this weapon in the hands of the people would change forever the way lawmakers conducted themselves in Sacramento.

“Honest business will not have to bribe a legislature to get a square deal,” it said. “Dishonest business will not be able to ‘influence’ a legislature and get more than a square deal.”

All right. We know how that promise turned out, so let’s move on to 1974 when Californians passed the Political Reform Initiative. This was a crackdown on campaign spending, on conflict-of-interest in the Capitol, on the big-money boys.

“It is time politicians are made directly responsible to the people--not to purchased demands of special interests,” the ballot argument said. “In Sacramento, lobbyists can provide secret favors to help pass new laws. In California politics, money speaks.

“It is time for political reform which can only be accomplished by Proposition 9.”

We got Proposition 9 but, as you’ve probably noticed, we did not get political reform. So in 1988 we had another go with Propositions 68 and 73. These were also crackdowns on campaign spending and the big money. The sponsors of Proposition 68 wrote most of their ballot promises in capital letters. They were very enthusiastic.

“CALIFORNIA’S TAXPAYERS CAN NO LONGER AFFORD A GOVERNMENT CONTROLLED BY SPECIAL INTERESTS. MONEY IS CORRUPTING THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS! IT’S GOT TO STOP NOW!” they wrote.

Two years later the courts decided that Propositions 68 and 73 were not so democratic themselves and threw out both. Whatever it was that had to stop in Sacramento, did not.

Now we’re starting a new decade with Proposition 140. On Wednesday, the day after the election, Willie Brown called two meetings: one for the legislative staff and one for the Democratic legislators.

The staff meeting was held in the Capitol auditorium. Don’t panic, Willie told them. There’s lots of time before anyone loses their jobs.

The legislators’ meeting was held at the Firehouse restaurant downtown. Don’t panic, Willie told them. There’s lots of time before anyone’s term runs out.

Willie was thinking about the possibilities with the courts. He was thinking about new initiatives. Willie didn’t get to be Speaker by missing the lessons of history, and he knows the game is not over.

So if you tend to relish the housecleaning promised by Proposition 140, you might keep the celebration to a minimum for now. As Willie says, and as history proves, there’s lots of time.