California Proposition 35, Require Legislature to Pass Resolution for U.S. Constitution Balanced Budget Amendment Initiative (1984)
| California Proposition 35 | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic Balanced budget requirements and Federal government issues |
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| Status |
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| Type Initiated state statute |
Origin |
Not on the ballot
California Proposition 35 was not on the ballot as an initiated state statute in California on November 6, 1984.
The ballot initiative was designed to require the California State Legislature to pass a resolution for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The California Supreme Court ruled that the proposal was an invalid use of the ballot initiative. On August 27, 1984, the Supreme Court ordered that the issue be removed from the ballot.[1]
Lawsuit
AFL-CIO v. Eu (1984)
In 1984, the California Supreme Court ruled that an initiative could not be used to require the Legislature to pass a resolution related to a federal constitutional amendment. The opinion stated:[1]
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We have concluded that the initiative, to the extent that it applies for a constitutional convention or requires the Legislature to do so, does not conform to article V of the United States Constitution. Article V provides for applications by the "Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States," not by the people through the initiative; it envisions legislators free to vote their best judgment, responsible to their constituents through the electoral process, not puppet legislators coerced or compelled by loss of salary or otherwise to vote in favor of a proposal they may believe unwise. We also conclude that the measure exceeds the scope of the initiative power under the controlling provisions of the California Constitution (art. II, § 8 and art. IV, § 1). The initiative power is the power to adopt "statutes" — to enact laws — but the crucial provisions of the balanced budget initiative do not adopt a statute or enact a law. They adopt, and mandate the Legislature to adopt, a resolution which does not change California law and constitutes only one step in a process which might eventually amend the federal Constitution. Such a resolution is not an exercise of legislative power reserved to the people under the California Constitution.[2] |
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Path to the ballot
In California, the number of signatures required for an initiated state statute is equal to 5 percent. For initiated statutes filed in 1984, at least 393,835 valid signatures were required.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 California Supreme Court, "AFL-CIO v. Eu," August 27, 1984
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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