Proposals would cap spending

Alicia Robinson

Two of the area’s elected officials are calling a halt to the huge

spending increases proposed by the state and federal governments in

recent years.

U.S. Rep. Chris Cox and 70th District Assemblyman John Campbell

are backing spending caps for Congress and the state Legislature,

respectively.

Cox told members of the Conservative Political Action Conference

on Jan. 24 that he will introduce a constitutional amendment to

control federal spending. It would limit spending increases to the

previous year’s spending plus inflation and population growth. A

three-fifths vote in Congress would be required to approve additional

spending.

Last month, Campbell proposed a similar amendment to California’s

Constitution that would impose spending limits on the state

Legislature, keeping the budget to that of the previous year’s with

inflation and population growth added. Petitions will be circulated

to place the initiative on the November ballot.

Campbell’s proposal would set up a rainy day fund and limit how

much debt the state can incur.

If a spending limit had been in place under Gov. Gray Davis, the

state wouldn’t have a $14-billion deficit, Campbell said. During

Davis’ first term, spending increased 38% while state population only

rose by 21%, he said.

“When the Legislature sees money, it spends it,” Campbell said.

“This is an external discipline to force them to do what many of them

know is the right thing to do.”

Various polls have shown voter support for a cap on state

spending, Campbell said.

“I’ve never seen anything that doesn’t show a majority approval

among all voters for this, so all the voters get it that the

Legislature will just keep spending their money incessantly if we

don’t have some controls on it,” he said.

If past attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution are any

indication, Cox faces a tough battle for his spending limit. A

constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote of Congress and

ratification by three-fourths of the states’ legislatures.

More than 900 amendments have been proposed just involving the

electoral college, UC Irvine political science professor Mark

Petracca said.

“Dozens of amendments are proposed annually,” Petracca said. “They

just don’t go anywhere.”

The state and federal efforts to limit spending are the visible

results of rumblings among taxpayers and legislators that government

spending is out of control.

In his speech, Cox cited the growth of the federal budget from

$1.4 trillion in 1993 to more than $2 trillion today. President Bush

this week announced a $2.4-trillion budget proposal for the year.

Such increases in federal spending have given even Bush’s GOP

colleagues pause.

“I don’t think there’s any secret that there’s concern about

that,” Campbell said.

Petracca said it’s surprising to see a conservative such as Cox

proposing a constitutional amendment on a public policy issue.

“The idea of constitutionalizing this is still not a particularly

conservative thing to do because it takes discretion away from your

representatives,” Petracca said.

“[Cox] has come to the conclusion that neither Democrats nor

Republicans can be trusted to reduce the size and scope of federal

government,” he said.