More than 300 people gathered for the California Constitutional Convention Summit in Sacramento on Tuesday to debate a wholesale restructuring of state government, which could include rewriting the state Constitution reports the Associated Press.
The suggestions included:
- End the two-thirds majority requirement to pass a state budget or approve new taxes.
- Abolish the initiative process.
- Ask California voters every 10 years whether to authorize a constitutional convention to review the state’s governing document.
- End or extend term limits for legislators.
- Reduce the size of electoral districts so lawmakers represent fewer constituents.
- Merge the Assembly and Senate into one 120-member body.
- Dump the winner-take-all election system in favor of a parliamentary or coalition system.
- Scrap the two-party system.
- Eliminate counties and their governments.
- Operate the state on a two-year budget cycle.
- Allow voters to register on Election Day, automatically register when they renew their driver’s license or pre-register all 16- and 17-year-olds.
- Allow the Legislature to work with initiative proponents to either take up their measures as legislation or rewrite them.
- Require initiative proponents to have an identified funding source for their ballot measures.
- Allow initiative campaigns to gather signatures online.
- List all the supporters and opponents of initiatives in the voter guide, and group similar or competing initiatives together.