California's newest referendums - for financial sanity

California has been often mentioned as a huge area with a huge economy which has been using initiatives for referendums since the early 1900's. Many have pointed to them as a cause of some recent, economic malfunctions, though it has been a burgeoning, successful, state for decades. But, two measures to come up in November voting may well help to overcome recent issues. One would simplify income taxes, and extend sales taxes to cover services, while providing rebates to the poor. This could raise revenues by about $10 billion a year it is touted.

The other initiative is to "fix initiatives". It would create a council of experts appointed by the governor and political parties, who would screen proposals for "sanity and cost". These ideas are needed to overcome blockages caused mostly by unswerving political parties. California has been suffering from serious cash imbalances recently, created to a great extent by a complicated state legislature. The new referendums have been developed by a "supercommittee", which the Economist magazine said, might actually work. Why the state has not previously had a council of some sort to oversee initiative proposals is unclear.