Thursday, April 14, 2011

Sacramento Bee: Gov. Brown Cites State Constitution for Vote by People

Capitol Alert

The latest on California politics and government

April 13, 2011 The Sacramento Bee
Brown: Ultimate authority rests with the people

In making his case for a public vote on taxes Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown made an interesting reference to a line in the state constitution: "All political power is inherent in the people." It is in Article II, Section I, a part of the constitution related to laws on the initiative, referendum and recall process.

"It's a question of who's sovereign in this country and in this state," Brown said Wednesday. "It's we the people. In fact, California says, in the initiative part of the constitution, ultimate legislative authority rests with the people of California. And I'll take my case to them."

It's worth pointing out that the same part of the constitution has given confidence to some Democrats who think they can put taxes on the ballot with a majority vote. One criticism of the majority-vote path has been that the Legislature cannot delegate to the people its authority to write statutes. The legal defense is that the constitution gives voters the ultimate authority, so the Legislature can delegate its duties to the people - and on a majority vote.

Brown does not agree with the majority-vote path, and he wasn't intending to make that argument with his reference.

But the line apparently gives Brown moral comfort as much as it gives some Democrats legal comfort.

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