press release Same-Sex Marriage Ban Losing – Measures to Restrict Abortion for Minors, Reform Redistricting Fail to Reach 50 Percent Oct 22, 2008
Report Redistricting and Legislative Partisanship By Eric McGhee Sep 9, 2008 Critics of the state legislature contend that its pattern of gridlock—as exemplified by the current budget impasse—can be traced to the “safe seats” it drew for itself in the 2001 redistricting process. Redistricting reform is often suggested as the right prescription for these legislative ills. This report analyzes in detail the effects of the 2001 redistricting on legislative behavior, voting patterns, and partisanship. It concludes that if increased bipartisanship is what critics want, redistricting reform may not be the optimal way to attain it.
At Issue, Report Legislative Reform By Eric McGhee Dec 3, 2007 PPIC's At Issue series focuses on issues important for California now and in the future. In this issue, PPIC research fellow Eric McGhee discusses three charges often brought against the California Legislature—loss of competence, increasing partisan gridlock, and declining efficiency—and three types of reform aimed at addressing those shortcomings: relaxing term limits, transferring redistricting from the legislature to an independent commission, and reducing the supermajority requirement for the budget. He also offers some recommendations for policy design and briefly discusses alternative reforms.
press release PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians And The Future: What Election? Candidates Skirt the Issues, Voters Tune Out Oct 25, 2006
Statewide Survey PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and the Future By Mark Baldassare Oct 25, 2006 Some findings in the current survey, two weeks before the Nov. 7 election: Among likely voters, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s lead over his Democratic challenger, State Treasurer Phil Angelides, increased one percentage point to 18 points, 48% to 30%, with 13% undecided. Schwarzenegger continues to pull much greater support from Republicans (86%) than Angelides does from Democrats (57%). Likely voters continue to name immigration (21%) and education (19%) as the issues they most want the candidates for governor to discuss, followed by the state budget and taxes (10%), and jobs and the economy (7%). But most voters (60%), and at least half of Democrats (67%), Republicans (50%), and independents (60%), say they are dissatisfied with the attention that the gubernatorial candidates are giving to the issues. Overall, Californians show more support for the general concept of using state bonds to pay for infrastructure than they do for any of the specific measures on the November ballot: 61 percent of likely voters think it is a good idea for the state government to pay for infrastructure improvements by issuing bonds, but 58 percent of likely voters say the $43 billion price tag for the five current bond measures is too much. A majority of likely voters (59%) favors redistricting reform that would require an independent commission of citizens, not the governor and legislature, to adopt a new redistricting plan after each Census. This is the 72nd PPIC Statewide Survey and the third in a four-part, pre- and post-election series, made possible with funding from The James Irvine Foundation.
