LOS ANGELES – In the aftermath of the May 19 special election, the Courage Campaign and CREDO Mobile are launching a “Declaration of Democracy” campaign to restore democracy and accountability to the state legislature. The two progressive organizations are calling for the legislature to approve a majority-vote budget to deal with the current budget deficit, and are building a long-term campaign to eliminate the 2/3rds rule requiring legislators to approve a budget and raise revenues.

Rick Jacobs of the Courage Campaign and Michael Kieschnick of CREDO Mobile will host a conference call for members of the media at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 20, to discuss their “Declaration for Democracy” campaign.

PRESS CONFERENCE CALL-IN INFO: 9-9:30 a.m. PT, Wednesday, May 20.

“The special election proved voters are tired of flawed solutions that are the result of an undemocratic system,” said Rick Jacobs, founder and chair of the California-based Courage Campaign, which has more than 700,000 members and supporters. “Only by allowing the legislature to pass budgets and raise revenues by a simple majority vote will we have true democracy and accountability.”

California is only one of three states that require a 2/3 majority of its legislature to approve a budget and collect new revenues — the others are the smaller states of Rhode Island and Arkansas. Since 1989, only seven budgets have been approved by the June 30 deadline, whereas budgets in states without a 2/3rds rule are routinely passed on time.

“Voters saw through the phony solutions offered up in the expensive special election,” said Michael Kieschnick, President of CREDO Mobile. “In fact, the special election itself only happened as an extremely expensive payoff to lure a tiny handful of Republican legislators. Voters did not get to vote on a single measure that would have addressed the real problem — a constitution that prohibits legislators from doing their jobs by majority vote.”

Jacobs also called on the Legislature to apply democratic principles to the current budget deficit, estimated by the Legislative Analyst’s Office to be anywhere between $15 and $21 billion.

“California cannot absorb the kind of cuts-only budget that Republicans will demand,” Jacobs said. “Only a responsible mix of spending solutions and revenues from wealthy individuals and corporations will solve the budget crisis without wilting the green shoots of economic recovery. That requires the legislature to pass a majority vote budget plan.”

The Legislative Counsel, which offers nonpartisan legal advice to legislators, said in a recent legal opinion that the majority vote budget plan the Legislature adopted in December was both legal and constitutional. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed that budget, but political observers expect the plan to be revived in the aftermath of the May 19 special election.

Jacobs viewed the outcome of the special election as a mandate for progressive change in the way the state is governed.

“Voters want change. The propositions on the special election ballot were sadly more of the same,” said Jacobs. “Voters want to change the way the state operates, and make the legislature more accountable and effective by restoring democracy.”

The “Declaration of Democracy for a Majority Vote Budget” petition can be found at:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/Declaration