BILL NUMBER: ACR 1	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Blakeslee

                        DECEMBER 1, 2008

   Relative to calling a convention for the revision of the
California Constitution.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 1, as introduced, Blakeslee. Constitutional Convention.
   This measure would propose that the people of the State of
California vote at the next statewide general election on the
question of whether to call a convention to revise the California
Constitution.
   Fiscal committee: yes.



   WHEREAS, The California Constitution authorizes the Legislature to
submit at a general election the question of whether to call a
convention to revise the California Constitution; and
   WHEREAS, It is the intent of the Legislature that the delegates to
the Constitutional Convention revise the Constitution to institute
election and campaign reforms, tax reforms, and budget reforms; and
   WHEREAS, Election, campaign, and budget reforms are required to
make the Legislature more responsive to the people of this state by
increasing competitive choice in electing Members of the Legislature
while decreasing partisan control over the selection of candidates,
by allowing Members of the Legislature to gain more experience by
lengthening potential terms of service while preserving the spirit of
term limits, and by decreasing the influence of special interests
through strengthening controls that limit personal benefits to
Members of the Legislature from campaign and noncampaign gifts and
contributions; and
   WHEREAS, Tax reform for sales, corporate, and income taxes is
required to reduce the sharp increases and decreases in revenue that
change with California's gross domestic product. California needs to
adopt a tax system that is reasonably revenue neutral, in the
aggregate for each taxpayer relative to the current tax code over a
prior 10-year period, and establish reforms that provide an incentive
for new business activity in the state resulting in increased future
state revenues due to stronger economic activity; and
   WHEREAS, Budget reform is required to avoid financial hardships to
the people of this state by revising the legislative and budget
calendars to promote a timely budget and limit the Legislature's
ability to work on nonbudget legislation if a budget is delayed, and
by establishing automatic payments for critical services, in an
amount no greater than the prior year's funding level, except for
adjustments based on a change in population and the cost of living,
when there are budget delays; and
   WHEREAS, Budget reform is needed to curb spending by requiring
that new fees or fee increases in excess of the percentage increase
of population and the cost of living are treated as taxes that must
be passed by two-thirds of the Members of the Legislature; and
   WHEREAS, It is the intent of the Legislature that the delegates
focus on these reforms and limit the scope of the constitutional
revisions to the most pressing needs of the state; now, therefore, be
it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California
at its 2009-10 Regular Session commencing on the first day of
December 2008, two-thirds of the membership of each house concurring,
hereby proposes that the people of the State of California vote at
the next statewide general election on the question of whether to
call a convention to revise the California Constitution, subject to
all of the following:
   (a) Pursuant to Section 2 of Article XVIII of the California
Constitution, the question of whether to call a convention to revise
the California Constitution shall be submitted to the voters at the
next statewide general election, and if the majority vote yes on that
question, within six months the Legislature shall provide for the
convention;
   (b) The Secretary of State shall submit the question of whether to
call a convention to revise the California Constitution to the
voters in the manner in which the Secretary of State would submit any
other proposition by the Legislature that is submitted to a popular
vote at a statewide general election;
   (c) There shall be 56 delegates to the constitutional convention
and those delegates shall be voters of this state. Fourteen delegates
each shall be elected from four districts as nearly equal in
population as may be practicable;
   (d) The procedure used to elect delegates to the convention and
the rules of procedure regarding the conduct of the convention shall
be prescribed by a statute to be enacted;
   (e) The elected delegates shall meet in convention in the Assembly
Chamber at the State Capitol Building in the City of Sacramento; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the Secretary of State, the Legislative Analyst,
the Attorney General, and to the author for appropriate distribution.