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Contributor
George
Passantino
George Passantino
is Director of Government Affairs for the Reason
Foundation and coauthor of "Roadmap to Reform."
 Remembering
Arnold’s Mandate
Change
the fundamentals...
[George
Passantino] 1/29/04
As the post-inauguration
battleground grows fierce, it’s
worth remembering that Governor Schwarzenegger received a surprisingly
strong mandate in November. When California’s legislators
refuse to cooperate, Schwarzenegger will find support at the
source of that mandate—the public.
As Matt Fong,
California’s former elected state treasurer
and current member of the Schwarzenegger transition team recently
wrote in a Los Angeles Daily News opinion piece, “The recall
isn’t a circus. It is part of a pattern—taxpayers
are demanding transparency and accountability from corporate
America and their government.” Now California is waiting
to see how this call for accountability and transparency will
manifest itself in the new Schwarzenegger administration and
his efforts to “give California back its future.”
Chief among
the challenges the new executive will face is a current-year
budget that is
hemorrhaging red ink (See “Arnold
Targets the Budget Crisis”). Former State Controller
Kathleen Connell referred to the recently passed budget as a “Band-Aid
on a broken leg.” Others have roundly criticized the legislature
and Governor Davis for willingly putting off the dif- ficult
decisions year after year—behavior that has only made the
current crisis worse. When all is said and done, Schwarzenegger
may face a current year deficit as high as $20 billion, along
with a projected $8 billion shortfall in next year’s budget.
Recall opponents
warned that a new governor could be elected with as little
as 15 percent
of the vote, yet Schwarzenegger
received nearly 49 percent of the vote in the crowded race and
beat his closest pursuer by roughly 17 percent. Based on the
latest figures from the California Secretary of State, it appears
that more voters have cast their ballots for Schwarzenegger than
to retain Governor Davis (approximately 4.20 million vs. 4.00
million). Also, Schwarzenegger received more votes than Governor
Davis did in the 2002 general election (3.53 million)—something
astonishing since turnout is typically lower for special elections.
Voters galvanized
around fiscal concerns and gave the governor-elect a more straightforward
show of support than many expected. But
what about California’s political class? How will it react?
Two days after the historic election, I participated in a panel
discussion comprised of a politically diverse group of highly
respected government officials, legal experts and academics to
discuss the challenges the new administration will confront.
With both Republicans and Democrats in the room, I anticipated
a vocal joust over the propriety of the election and what it
really meant. Only the joust never materialized.
Instead,
there seemed a general consensus that Schwarzenegger had a
clear mandate
to fundamentally reform the way government
operates. There was also a shared view that Schwarzenegger’s
rapport with the public is something that he can and will use
if the legislature resists his reform agenda. Even panelist Scott
Rafferty, a vocal opponent of the recall and a lead attorney
in lawsuits against the election, expressed his desire that this
historic opportunity be seized upon to consolidate state departments,
restructure duplicate government programs, and reduce the number
of state personnel. This is a shocking departure from the divisiveness
of the recall and the sense that it would carry on beyond October
7th. California indeed faces monumental challenges. But if anything
can offer hope in the wake of the election, it is this apparent
shift in public attitudes as well as an emerging sense that Schwarzenegger
is well-positioned to leverage these forces to create a new political
will among lawmakers.
Even in times
of political turbulence, both Schwarzenegger and the legislature
remain
mindful of the governor’s strong
public support—and this may be the force that finally reforms
California’s lingering problems.
This
editorial originally appeared in Reason Foundation's Privatization
Watch
copyright 2004 Reason Foundation
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