Accountability for Obstruction of the California State Budget: Recall of Senator Denham and How the Process Can Be Made Better

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Derek Cressman

Frustrated with the refusal of all but one Republican senator to support a budget deal that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger negotiated with legislative leaders, Democrats are threatening a recall campaign against Sen. Jeff Denham, whose district includes eastern Monterey County.

A recall could help break Sacramento's gridlock by taking the issue directly to voters, but improvements in the recall process itself would make this a better tool to resolve issues like this one.

Senate Republicans are holding up the budget over several grievances, including a disagreement with Attorney General Jerry Brown's actions to require developers to consider the impact of future growth on global warming. The current California law requiring a two-thirds vote to approve a budget gives the Republican minority unique leverage which they are using to try to deny Brown the funds to enforce the California Environmental Quality Act as he sees fit.

While it may be frustrating that an issue as complicated as a $145 billion state budget is being resolved more by politics than by policy, it is entirely appropriate that both Denham and the Democrats would be looking to their political futures as much as to pundits or their personal beliefs on the budget. While ugly at times, elections (including recalls) are ultimately the process by which citizens can retain the final say in matters of great importance, of which the budget is surely one.

The accountability problem may be that Denham is thinking more about his potential future constituents than voters in his current district. Denham has filed papers to run for lieutenant governor in the 2010 election and it is possible that his vote on the budget is guided more by voters in the statewide Republican primary than by the folks in his district.

A recall would let voters sort out the legitimate difference of opinion between legislators. Do voters generally agree with the Republicans that the budget should be cut and that developers need not worry themselves with global warming? Or, are they willing to accept the compromise worked out between Democrats and Schwarzenegger? Just as two employees with different views at a company appeal to their superiors, it is entirely appropriate for politicians to occasionally take their differences to their boss, the voters.