Well, it’s about time somebody gets me! I need my 8 hours! And frankly, so do our legislators. Frankly, I’ve had enough of these photos of legislators passed out in their chairs.
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg pledged Wednesday that the Legislature would no longer hold marathon all-night sessions to get its work done. Such sessions were commonplace last year, as lawmakers snored and slept on the Legislature’s floor, bills were passed at all hours of the night and the state became fodder for late-night comedy shows. (LA Times)
There really is no need for this. They have plenty of time to make these decisions, but instead the Republicans and the Governor like to play these games of brinksmanship. And frankly, the 2/3 rule makes it a powerful play. While I respect Steinberg’s intention to quit it with the overnighters, I’m not putting away the No-Doz quite yet.
And anyway, I’ve gotten quite good at Bejeweled and Farmville while watching those marathons on the Cal-Channel.
Ellis Goldberg, Northern California Field Director for Californians for Democracy, announced in an e-mail that The California Democracy Act (the campaign to eliminate the 2/3 requirements to pass the budget and increase revenue) now has a new website (http://www.ca4democracy.com) with initiative petitions available on-line. The initiative is simply worded, “All legislative actions on revenue and budget must be determined by a majority vote.”
I am a volunteer petition circulator for the campaign. This is the first time that I have circulated a petition and I am getting a good response from people. Often I barely need to explain what this is about.