THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VI, Issue # 160, July 20, 2004
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGER & CALIFORNIA'S BUDGET:
THE STATE BUDGET BATTLE CENTERS ON RESTORING LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT
By Ken Magugi
FULL STORY:
Arnold Schwarzenegger's governorship could be the most important in California history, the one that unlocks the stranglehold of
Leftwing Liberal interest groups on the governance of the Golden State and revives the fundamental principle of local
self-government. In the case of California, that requires major surgery, not two aspirins. In his inaugural address, Governor
Schwarzenegger spoke to the point of wanting to "blow up the boxes." Let us help him light some fuses.
In the current dispute over the state budget it is easy to overlook what is at stake: the principle of local self-government. Entangled
in the budget debate, the current proposals for local government reform are not only inadequate — they actually aggravate the
problem. Without such principles, we will lose all direction and be unable to distinguish between compromises over tactics and
trivia, and compromises over principles.
Let us first acknowledge the fundamental role of local governments in revitalizing the California dream. If Americans can't govern
themselves locally, how can they govern themselves on the state or federal level? If local self-government is gone, so is our entire
way of life.
Responsible local self-government cannot occur unless citizens have the authority to permit cities and counties to tax themselves.
With local taxing power, local governments have authority, responsibility, and accountability. Those who elect them — often from
their neighborhoods — can determine whether the monies collected are spent wisely or foolishly. Those who tax should also be
those who spend. And the voters who pay the taxes should have the ability to vote out those local officials who fail them. As the
Governor knows, California's present financial arrangements have undermined this common-sense notion of responsibility.
In 1978, Californians wisely limited local governments in raising the property tax by passing Proposition 13. An unfortunate,
unintended consequence of the measure was the deterioration of local governments' responsibility. A premium was put on their
ability to lobby Sacramento for their property tax funds — and, as you well know, the increase of power there has done nothing to
increase Sacramento's accountability. Far from it. The whole state gradually went out of kilter. But the proposed remedy for
Californians' drastic actions, Proposition 65, the ill-named "Local Taxpayers and Public Safety Protection Act," does not bring us
back to local self-government.
For one, Proposition 65 does not get to the heart of the problem — the lack of accountability. For 25 years, the lure of sales tax
revenues set local government against local government, in the pursuit of revenue-raising businesses. Again, the local priorities
became distorted. Redevelopment agencies flourished under such temptations, which too often prove to be fanciful condemnation
of supposedly "blighted" areas. They wielded arbitrary power in local communities and invited corruption by virtually seizing
private property for alleged public benefit. A lack of local authority has begotten, not just irresponsibility, but injustice, as some
see homes and businesses gone, gone in order to please a majority on the local redevelopment agency.
A further injustice is that Proposition 65 aggravates the problems of unfairness and unaccountability. Under current law, it would
return Orange County only 7% of the property taxes received from it. (By comparison, Los Angeles County gets 21%, San
Francisco 64%.) While many parts of southern California should be outraged by this bullying, no community should be satisfied
with such meager returns.
What has been missing in this debate, and from public action for many years, is a respect for property rights — not the rights of
the wealthy but the rights of everyone to acquire and retain the wealth of their labors, whatever their occupation. Sacramento's
concern has, instead, been to expand government programs and reward its favorites. In doing so, it has distorted the housing
market, increased regulation, and driven out businesses. If Sacramento had, instead, respected individuals' rights to their property
and labor, they would have protected the homeowner (and the would-be homeowner), the entrepreneur, and all others who are
raising their families, and many more would now be enjoying the California dream.
Any system of reforming the place of local government in California, should keep in mind these concerns — local accountability
and respect for property rights. They form the heart of local self-government. At the end of a great action movie, the great treasure
of the Ark is buried in a pile of boxes in a government warehouse. That Ark is local self-government. The boxes are the barriers
and programs Sacramento has created over the years. Let's blow up those bureaucratic boxes and retrieve local self-government.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics & Local Self-Government
Ken Masugi is Director of the Center for Local Government, Claremont Institute for Statesmanship and Political Philosophy, and is
an associate editor of the Claremont Review of Books. He is the co-author of Democracy in California: Politics and
Government in the Golden State.
The foregoing article by Ken Masugi was originally published in the July 16, 2004, issue of Precepts, a weekly publication
of the Claremont Institute, a Conservative political, cultural, and educational organization in the U.S.A. The Claremont Institute
describes its central purpose as the mission "to restore the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent
authority in our national life." Committed to American constitutionalism and republicanism as well as representative democracy
and local self-government, the Institute's mission statement declares: "America's Founders endowed our Republic with sound
principles and a framework for governing that is unmatched in the history of mankind. The prosperity and freedom of America
can only be made secure if they are guided by a return to these basic principles as our country enters the 21st. century."
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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