Quick reference for the Propositions and the position of the CDP on the props on the ballot May 19th: Prop 1A State Budget Change = Neutral
Prop 1B Education Funding = Yes
Prop 1C Lottery Modernization(Read License to Steal) = Yes
Prop 1D Children's Services = Neutral
Prop 1E Mental Health Services Funding = Neutral

I will do an update with all the resolutions later...

 

On Monday Feb. 23^rd at the Ojai Valley Democrats general meeting at the Ojai Art Center, we were treated to a very enlightening presentation about a poorly understood, often boring subject—the California State budget. Professor Scott Frisch of the Political Science Department at California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) came and talked to us about our dysfunctional budget process. Prof. Frisch is incredibly knowledgeable about budget issues, in fact, it happens to be his specialty, and he really schooled us on the fact that the entire sordid mess is our own fault. 

With a subject like the budget, I know some of you might be congratulating yourselves on your decision to stay home and not come to the meeting, but I'm here to tell you that you really missed something. Scott came to tell us about the California budget process, which was timely considering the fact that the legislature had finally voted to pass a budget on the previous Thursday the 19^th. Ordinarily Prof. Frisch likes to use Power Point to navigate through the complexities of the budget process. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a projector for him to use, so he decided to "wing it". I know Power Point is an extremely helpful tool, but I don't think the presentation suffered at all from its absence. I often find that people have a tendency to slip into a television-watching, alpha wave mode when they are watching a screen and listening to a presentation. With a subject as complicated and--well, byzantine as the California budget process and history. It’s better that audiences stay on their toes.  

Prof. Frisch laid the blame for California’s perennial inability to pass a budget at the feet of the California electorate—aka us. He identified California’s direct democracy through the use of the initiative as the primary cause of our governmental morass. He outlined a series of past initiatives that led us to our current predicament. Below is a list of my impressions from the presentation and any inaccuracies or omissions probably come from my poor note taking and should not be attributed to Scott: