Initiatives
Peter King (column, Oct. 15) correctly asserts that California’s most controversial initiatives are emotional responses to state problems. But emotion isn’t a good substitute for reasoned legislation, and leaving the courts to sort out the details is expensive, lengthy and unsatisfactory.
Let’s use initiatives the way they’re intended: as a wake-up call to the Legislature to address the problem. Let’s change the system so that a passed initiative doesn’t become law but goes to the Legislature, which can work with the proposal and perhaps tone down the more extreme (and court-challengeable) sections. Then at the next election, citizens can vote on the amended version. If it passes, it goes into law; if not, it goes back to the Legislature for more work.
This process would continue to involve the general public, but it would introduce responsible consideration as opposed to raw emotion.
JOHN KROLL
Sherman Oaks
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