San Francisco Chronicle

Published March 7, 2010

Reform groups, who've stepped in with suggested changes, aren't getting the job done. Repair California, which wanted a voter-approved constitutional convention to rewrite the governmental rules, put its effort on hold because of money problems. A second group, California Forward, is struggling to develop its own cures. Among the many ideas in distant orbit: initiatives to let the Legislature approve a budget by simple majority instead of two-thirds, a softening of term limits and different tax laws.

Lisa Vorderbrueggen, Contra Costa Times

Published March 6, 2010

The most influential reform group is California Forward, a bipartisan organization led by former Democratic Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg and Republican and Automobile Club of Southern California CEO Thomas McKernan. It is admittedly having trouble raising enough money to put its two reform measures on the ballot. Its board met Thursday and "we are continuing to work hard on a number of fronts," Hertzberg said. "We are here for the long haul."

Riverside Press Enterprise

Published March 6, 2010

New Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles, supports the idea of passing state budgets on a majority vote, instead of the current two-thirds vote benchmark. He says that change would provide more accountability, by making the majority party responsible for the budget -- though any consequences for fiscal irresponsibility seem remote given that incumbent-friendly district lines prevent serious election challenges. But altering the budget vote threshold would require voter approval. So Pérez told the Sacramento Bee this week that he was ready to ask the Legislature to put the change on the ballot, if a petition drive for a similar initiative stalls. Pérez, however, misses the larger point of the reforms promoted by California Forward, the bipartisan group pushing the initiative. The other reforms California Forward proposes would do far more to improve state budgeting than would lowering the vote threshold. And legislators can already effect those other changes.

Reed Fujii, Stockton Record

Published March 4, 2010

Despite rapid technologic and social change, California government is still largely based on a 19th-century approach, said Jim Mayer of California Forward. He said government should set clear, measurable performance goals and be held to meet those goals, allow a majority vote to approve the state budget and refocus spending. "We need to focus on results," he said. He also called for more regional cooperation between local government agencies. "The San Joaquin partnership is a perfect example," he said.

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Published March 4, 2010

While Republican Meg Whitman, former eBay CEO, was blasting away at Democrat Brown, local leaders of California Forward were giving a glum update on the group's effort to put a measure on the November ballot that would make passing a budget simpler and probably quicker. Cal Forward must raise hundreds of thousands of dollars this week to keep the measure alive. Meanwhile, a state Field Poll showed a majority of voters are not in favor of allowing a majority vote to pass a budget, instead of the current two-thirds requirement, which has been blamed for causing budgetary dysfunction.

Jennifer Steinhauer, New York Times

Published March 3, 2010

The list is also dotted with professional reformers who worked toward creating the commission they now want to sit on, like the heads of two nonpartisan research groups based in Los Angeles: Robert M. Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies, and Zabrae Valentine, the executive director of the California Forward Action Fund. “I have always believed that anybody but the Legislature should draw the lines,” Mr. Stern said in an e-mail message, who then pointed out that given the numbers of applicants for the commission, “the odds are not with me.” Ms. Valentine said in an e-mail message that she had applied only to see what the process was like so she could assist other applicants.

Lisa Vorderbrueggen, Contra Costa Times

Published March 3, 2010

"The rest of the world has continued down this path," said governance reformer James Mayer, executive director of California Forward, whose group is gathering signatures for an overall budgeting reform ballot measure that includes performance-based budgeting. "In California, the wave came and we sat on our surfboard and watched the water wash up on the beach."

The surf is back up, Mayer said.

Torey Van Oot, Sacramento Bee

Published March 3, 2010

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez said today he is prepared to ask the Legislature to put California Forward's proposal to lower the vote requirement for passing a budget on the November ballot. "I'm still waiting to hear from California Forward if they have finalized all the elements they have been tweaking, but I'm prepared to take it to (my caucus) rather quickly," Pérez said in an interview with The Bee Capitol Bureau.

Kurtis Alexander, San Jose Mercury News

Published March 3, 2010

Another effort to mend the state's political dysfunction, this one advanced by two former Santa Cruz lawmakers, is on the brink of unravelling. Santa Cruz County Treasurer Fred Keeley, a onetime assemblyman, said Tuesday that unless California Forward raises hundreds of thousands more dollars by the end of the week, the reform group will be forced to put off a November ballot measure that seeks to make passing a state budget easier.