Improving the Initiative Process

State Sen. Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach) is proposing a small but important change in California’s initiative petition system, which allows citizens to put legislative or constitutional matters to the people for a decision.

Karnette’s proposed constitutional amendment would tighten the present constitutional mandate that a ballot initiative be limited to a single subject. Initiative measures often contain a panoply of proposals dealing with a broad area of law, such as taxes. The state Supreme Court has been quite liberal in hearing legal challenges to initiative petitions on this basis.

Rarely has an initiative been invalidated for dealing with more than a single subject. That’s partly because the present constitutional language is quite broad, merely prohibiting a measure from “embracing” more than one subject. Karnette’s proposal declares that each section of an initiative must be reasonably germane to the overall objective of the ballot measure. Also, each section must be reasonably interdependent with all other provisions.

Karnette is right in saying this modest change would help achieve what voters want most in measures appearing on the ballot: simplicity and understandability. And there should be no fear that the revision would restrict petition sponsors in any way that violates the intent of those who created the initiative process in 1912.

The measure won Senate committee support Wednesday and deserves enthusiastic backing from the entire Legislature. After receiving Sacramento’s approval it would go before the voters this fall. This would be a welcome step toward better government.