In July of 2009 the Public Policy Institute of California conducted a survey that found that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger personal approval rating had reached its lowest since becoming Governor, going down to 28 percent. The legislature’s approval rating, at 17 percent, had also sunk to a record low with only 14 percent of Californians stating they thought the state was headed in the right direction.

The poor economy can certainly be pointed to as part of the reason for such dismal numbers, but the California legislature’s difficulty in coming to a bi-partisan agreement on the budget certainly did not help ease Californian’s concerns about their state and its government. While many of Sacramento’s problems could be traced back to propositions previously passed by the voters, or to restrictions placed on them by the judiciary it is clear that the voters are tired of the business as usual approach to Sacramento.

While there have been previous attempts to alter California’s government, many of these have been backed by either a partisan group or a special interest group. Recently two groups that have significant clout are moving forward in a bipartisan manner to address California’s governance and policymaker processes. These two groups are the Bay Area Council and California Forward.

The first group, the Bay Area Council, is a business-sponsored, public-policy advocacy organization for the nine-county Bay Area. The Council advocates for a strong economy, a vital business environment, and a better quality of life for the Bay Area. The Council is considering sponsoring a ballot measure for next June's ballot proposing a constitutional convention. The Council envisions a few hundred randomly selected responsible citizens meeting over the course of several months in a setting insulated from traditional statehouse special interests to craft improvements to state government. While the group is ready to roll up its sleeves and get to work on this matter, it has expressed a willingness to suspend its efforts if the Legislature on its own can address the issues.

Taking a different approach is California Forward which was created by several California foundations including the California Endowment, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Together they have asked four civic organizations to recommend a plan to achieve this change. These organizations are California Common Cause, Center for Governmental Studies, New California Network and the Commonwealth Club of California's Voices of Reform Project. The goal of California Forward is to contribute to improving the quality of life for all Californians by creating more responsive, representative and cost-effective government. The two chairs of this group include Thomas McKernan the President and CEO of the Automobile Club of Southern California and Robert Hertzberg the former Democratic Speaker of the Assembly from the San Fernando Valley who is known as being a moderate who loves taking on complicated and almost impossible tasks.

California Forward recently wrote a letter to Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders outlining an 11-point plan that includes proposals to realign more services to local governments, change term limits and reduce the state's two-thirds budget vote requirement to a simple majority. Mr. McKernan and Mr. Hertzberg has stated that the group’s plan only works when all 11 points are adopted by the legislature or the voters. The group is hoping that the legislature will take action voluntarily on these issues, but is ready to go to the voters directly if action from the legislature doesn’t come quickly enough.

In light of the work of these two groups, last week the California Senate held an extensive joint informational hearing on Constitutional Reform. In her opening comment’s, Senator Loni Hancock, noted that the legislature has 38 measures in their possession addressing or modifying California’s constitution and its government in some manner or another. It seems that the Senate acknowledges that time is ripe for change for California’s constitution and its government, and that they should inject themselves into the dialogue. The panel heard from California Forward, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the Bay Area Council, Common Cause, the California Budget Project, the League of Women Voters and the National Association of Colored People.

These two groups are not alone in proposing changes. There is also the Governor’s bipartisan Commission on the 21st Century Economy which is slated to deliver its recommendations before September 20, 2009. Once their proposals are brought forward, Governor Schwarzenegger will call the legislature back into special session in September to consider their proposals in the hope that California will modify the way it receives its revenues, which has been accused of increasing California’s current woes as it has fluctuated wildly with the economy. There is also the Citizens for California Reform, which is seeking the creation of a part-time legislature.