State Budget Props 22, 25 & 26 All Pass
SACRAMENTO (CBS / AP) - An initiative designed to make it easier for the Legislature to adopt a state budget has passed.
Proposition 25 lowers the vote threshold for passing a state budget
from two-thirds to a simple majority.
The effort was aimed at avoiding legislative gridlock that has resulted in long budget impasses, although detractors, mostly business interests, had said the initiative would give too much power to the majority party.
"No longer will a few legislators hold up the entire budget process until special favors are finally granted in exchange for their votes," said Marty Hittelman, president of the California Federation of Teachers, which backed the proposition.
Two other initiatives dealing with the state budget also passed.
Proposition 22, which sought to prohibit the state from borrowing money from local governments, was approved.
Proposition 26, which was aimed at making it harder for governments to charge fees to businesses by reclassifying them as taxes, won too.
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