Yes on Prop. 11 to End Hyper-Partisanship
By: State: California | Source: aarp.org
California's government is in need of serious change. Health care reform, chronic budget deficits, improving schools and building parks for our children, ensuring the long-term availability of our water supply and so many other important issues remain unaddressed in Sacramento while the problems continue to get worse.
Unfortunately, thanks to the way the system is set up to protect incumbents and maintain the status quo, voters can do little in demanding answers from their Legislators for not addressing these issues.
Take the current budget stalemate for example—the Legislature is more than two months late in delivering a budget, but more than likely most incumbents will still be re-elected in November.
A seldom-discussed process called redistricting is one of the main culprits in the development and continued growth of this dysfunctional process. Under the current system, every 10 years Legislators meet together to negotiate drawing their own district lines, determining their own political futures by picking their own voters to ensure their re-election.
Meanwhile important issues continue to be ignored.
The good news is that Proposition 11, a fair redistricting reform proposal on the November ballot, will go a long way toward changing this—for the better. AARP is working hard to pass this measure because it will put voters back in control.
This reform is so important that more than 1,200 organizations and individuals representing every walk of life have come together to support this measure, including California Common Cause, the League of Women Voters of California, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, public safety organizations, the ACLU of Southern California, firefighters, Democrat and Republican clubs across the state, cities, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Gov. Gray Davis.
Proposition 11 will do away with the backroom deals that drive the current system and replace it with an open and transparent process where districts are drawn to ensure communities, cities and counties are not divided to benefit incumbent legislators. It will create a 14-member citizen's commission that will meet in public ensuring that anyone who is concerned about the fairness of the process can watch closely and ask questions. It sets clear standards for compliance with the Voting Rights Act to ensure maps that fairly represent the people of this state. And it removes the inherent conflict of interest in the system we have now that lets politicians define their voting districts.
We face a crucial time in California's history and we need leaders in Sacramento ready to find common ground on serious solutions these issues. Proposition 11 is an important step toward making sure those who are willing to lead are elected and stay in office and a key part of making our government work for the people of California, rather than for special interests and Sacramento insiders.
Vote yes for Proposition 11 in November.
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