Professor Elmendorf Co-authors NY Times Op-ed
Professor Chris Elmendorf co-authored an op-ed on the California budget crisis that appeared in the New York Times on July 28. The article suggests a "participatory budget procedure" that would directly involve an assembly of citizens in the budgeting process could help to avoid the political stalemates that have plagued California and other states.
Partly because the California Constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote to pass a budget, the state has frequently experienced breakdowns in the budgeting process as Democrats and Republicans have been unable to negotiate a compromise. While some reform advocates have proposed doing away with the two-thirds requirement, Elmendorf suggests that the requirement accurately reflects the wishes of many voters who want to see compromise between the parties. In the op-ed, Elmendorf proposes a system in which a panel of citizens would decide from among competing options.
"If the Legislature and the governor fail to adopt a budget four weeks before the deadline for the new fiscal year, a group of randomly selected citizens - one from each legislative district - would be convened to resolve the stalemate," the op-ed explains. "Three competing budgets would be drawn up: one by the governor, one by the Democratic caucuses in the legislative branch and one by the Republican caucuses... The citizens would then deliberate among themselves and vote by secret ballot on which of the budgets to adopt."
The plan would offer several advantages, the op-ed argues, ensuring enactment of a budget in a timely fashion, providing strong incentives for compromise, promoting budgetary accountability, and honoring the desire for a strong popular voice in government.
Professor Elmendorf's teaching and research interests include election law, administrative law, constitutional law, and property and natural resources law.