Panel OKs Plan to Overhaul State Government

California government reformers killed the idea of a one-house Legislature on Tuesday, but forged ahead with a proposal for a new type of super local government that could combine the functions of cities, counties, special districts and schools under one governing body.

The California Constitution Revision Commission also voted to overhaul public school finance by giving local districts block grants of state funds with enhanced authority to spend the money.

And although the commission steered away from tinkering with the Legislature, it voted to streamline the executive branch by putting more authority and responsibility in the governor’s office.

In all, the commission approved, in concept, the most dramatic overhaul of government in California since the present state Constitution was adopted in 1879.

Still, the 21-member body failed to complete drafting a projected ballot measure for the November election. Final action on several key matters is scheduled for Feb. 22.

Even when those issues are resolved, there is no certainty the reforms will get to the voters this fall. The plan first must win approval in both houses of the Legislature by a two-thirds vote.

Chairman William Hauck of Sacramento seemed less optimistic late Tuesday about the prospects of getting the bulk of the commission’s proposals, developed over the last 18 months, on the November ballot.

“I anticipate that everything we recommend is going to run into trouble across the street,” Hauck said, referring to the legislative chambers of the state Capitol.

That would include the commission’s plan for local “charter governments” under which residents could decide to combine existing agencies, including cities, counties, schools and water, sewer, and other sorts of districts.

“We’re creating it from scratch,” added Hauck, who was appointed commission chairman by Gov. Pete Wilson. “No one’s ever tried to do what we’re proposing before.”

There will be no action, however, on the issue that got the most public and media attention: merging the 80-member Assembly and 40-member Senate into a single 121-member unicameral state Senate.

The unicameral Legislature, which has long been touted by reformers--and was even debated in the 1879 constitutional convention--failed to win commission approval.

The two major proponents had been Hauck and state Sen. Lucy Killea (I-San Diego), author of the legislation that created the revision commission.

Killea said a major advantage would be to reduce the size of legislative districts so that lawmakers would not represent so many constituents--more than 800,000 now for each state senator.

But Killea, a commission member, added: “The political practicality of it is, I think, nil.”

Hauck told reporters: “It was my hope we would detect some public support or indication of widespread public support for that proposal and nowhere have we found that support. It’s been just totally absent.”

The goal of the commission has been to bring government closer to the people, to equip local officials to make decisions on the basis of local needs and demands, and to reduce the clutter and overlapping powers of about 7,000 local units of government.

Ever since the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, there has been a major shift of power and control over tax revenues from the local level to state government.

The commission proposals are designed to reverse that trend. Local entities would be encouraged to combine functions along lines designed by local citizen commissions and approved by local voters.

As an incentive, officials would have the authority to raise local taxes by a majority vote to pay for their programs. But conservative commission members, including four who were appointed by Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove) last week, sharply protested giving such taxing power to local officials, saying it violated the tax restriction spirit of Proposition 13.

They supported a motion by state Sen. Bill Leonard (R-San Bernardino) to prohibit any local tax increase without a two-thirds vote of the elected governing body and a two-thirds approval by voters.

The commission compromised, on an 11-7 vote, to require any local tax increase to receive a majority vote of the governing body and a majority vote of the people.

In other action, the commission voted:

* To have each party’s candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run as a team on the election ballot. The governor would retain full powers when traveling outside the state.

* To abolish the elected state Board of Equalization and transfer its duties to the state Franchise Tax Board.

* To make the state treasurer, state insurance commissioner and state superintendent of public instruction governor’s appointees rather than elected offices.