SPECIAL SENATE HEARING: REFORMING CALIFORNIA'S BUDGET PROCESS & GOVERNANCE SYSTEM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 13, 2009
Contact: Hans Hemann or Larry Levin (916) 651-4009
What: The Senate Committee on Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments, chaired by Senator Loni Hancock, and the Senate Select Committee on Constitutional Reform, chaired by Senator Mark DeSaulnier, will conduct a joint informational hearing on constitutional and budget reform.
When: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.
Where: State Capitol, Room 3191
Sacramento -- Senator Loni Hancock (D-Oakland), Chair of the Senate Committee on Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments, announced today that she has called a special informational hearing on budget and governance reform proposals. The hearing will be jointly held with the Senate Select Committee on Constitutional Reform, chaired by Senator Mark DeSaulnier.
"I am calling this hearing because it is clear that we must modernize the way California is governed," Senator Hancock announced.
"If anything has demonstrated this need, it is certainly the disastrous budget process we have just gone through. Increasingly inexperienced legislators are dealing with increasingly complex challenges and a dysfunctional governance system," she continued.
"This will be an opportunity to learn about what other states are doing and what proposals may be put forward," Senator Hancock added.
Senators will discuss proposed State Constitutional Amendments to reform the budget process, alter term limits, call a constitutional convention and other issues.
A wide-range of experts are expected to testify, including Fred Silva of California Forward, Jim Wunderman of the Bay Area Council, Brenda Erickson of the National Conference of State Legislatures, Michael Cohen of the Legislative Analyst's Office and others.