Truth Time for Nunez

A proposed California constitutional amendment to place redistricting in the hands of an independent citizen’s commission passed the State Senate yesterday. The bill does only that; it does not tie into term limits like others did.

The ball is now in Fabian Nunez’s court. This is where we find out if the Speaker is serious about reforming California’s political system. Throughout the year, he has supported a plan to tie redistricting to term limits reform.

Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa reported today that the measure cannot be passed in time to make this year’s ballot. However, it could easily be voted on by the end of the month to place it before the voters in the 2008 Primary election.

If Nunez allows this bill to recieve a vote without making amendments to tie it to term limits, we can assume he is genuinely concerned about the objectivity of California’s redistricting process. However, if he does not, we will know that all of this talk was merely an attempt to extend his speaker ship by allowing him to sit in the Assembly beyond 2008.