It’s particularly unfortunate that with a bill that probably has the highest public policy impact of any that we’ve debated here in the last 50 years, the other side didn’t have the common courtesy or the guts to allow the public to hear what they were doing.

No committee hearings.

No opportunity to debate amendments.

No public input.

Republican staffers in the gallery taking up seats so that taxpayers who traveled from across the state to get here are locked out.

I heard one of my colleagues talk about the “great transparency” we have in this chamber since the latest leadership has come in. THIS is transparency? THIS is what passes for transparency here? If you support this legislation, and I respect the sponsor of the amendment because he’s been very clear over the last two years about why he thinks the state should go this route, but the rest of the people here don’t have the guts to talk about this in front of people in this state.

That’s shameful. That’s not democracy. This is where democracy goes to die today. Because the majority in this state who lost 52% of the vote in state House races doesn’t have the guts to defend this.

I haven’t heard one demand that we have a committee hearing on this. This was announced today by the Governor that this was going through. WITH an appropriation! You’re not even willing to take this to the voters!

I’ve heard people talk that this is retribution for Proposition 2. Whatever you think about Prop 2, one thing is clear: the sponsors of that had the common courtesy to take it to the voters. They got beat fair and square. Why can’t YOU take this to the voters? Because you KNOW what will happen. You’re doing this in the lame duck because you KNOW in the next session YOU WON’T HAVE THE VOTES!

This is an outrage and anybody in this chamber who is willing to vote for a bill that changes the precedent in this state of such consequence without even allowing us to offer a real amendment does not deserve to be here.

Thank you.