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A ONE HOUSE LEGISLATURE?
I think we can all agree that the California legislature is dysfunctional. Over the past several years it has actually gotten worse, if that is possible: nothing gets done. The fine art of political compromise is nonexistent, mostly as a result of the lack of moderate legislators in the capitol. Both political parties now consist of individuals elected in gerrymandered districts from either the far left or the far right. One change in our state government would be to replace the two-house system with just one house. Termed a ‘unicameral' system, Nebraska is the only state which has this type of governing body. The current operation is wasteful, duplicative and encourages deceptive gamesmanship. The argument is that having two houses consider exactly the same thing serves no public purpose but it can be a smokescreen for sneaky maneuvers. For instance, one common practice is to push a ‘spot' bill through one house and then suddenly ‘gut' and ‘amend' its contents in the other house. That's how our state budget is handled! Originally, California adopted a two-house legislature because it followed the federal government which in turn was based on the British House of Lords and House of Commons. Those of you who have toured the capitol here in Sacramento will have noticed that the Senate is red (House of Lords) and the Assembly is green (House of Commons.) Until the mid 1960s California's Assembly was apportioned by population but the state Senate was apportioned by geography. The largest of the 58 counties got one senator each while some senators represented two or three sparsely populated counties. This all ended when the US Supreme Court's "one man, one vote" decision required apportionment by population only. Each Assembly district now contains more than half a million constituents while each senator represents nearly a million...more than a congressman. Interestingly, the California Legislature is easily the nation's smallest in relation to population. New Hampshire has upwards of 400 legislators! The question is whether we are better served with two houses or one? |
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