PD Editorial: Give voters a chance to streamline state government

Odds are that most Californians don’t give much thought to the state Board of Equalization. They probably don’t know what the board does, and they wouldn’t miss it if it disappeared.

The board is a leftover from the 19th century, an agency created to assess property values for taxing railroads and utilities and later given authority over tax appeals and about 30 revenue streams, including sales taxes. However, nearly all of its authority was shifted elsewhere in 2017 after a series of scandals, including revelations of mismanagement and nepotism.

Yet the board remains, providing sinecures with six-figure salaries for four elected officials. (The state controller also is an ex officio member.)

Each of the four elected board members represents almost 10 million people — more than the U.S. senators in 40 states. Yet they are, like the agency itself, largely anonymous.

Because the board is written into the state constitution, only voters can abolish it. And state voters may get that opportunity in 2024.

Assembly Constitutional Amendment 11 by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, would eliminate what little is left of the Board of Equalization and shift its duties to other state tax agencies. Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg, is a co-sponsor of ACA 11.

The legislation has yet to be scheduled for a hearing, but we think lawmakers should place it on the ballot so voters can decide whether California still needs this anachronistic agency.

The Board of Equalization isn’t the only office under legislative scrutiny. ACA 9 by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, asks voters to convert state superintendent of public instruction from an elected position to one appointed by the governor.

Given the intense interest in schools, voters may be reluctant to eliminate this office, which is currently held by Tony Thurmond, a former state legislator from Contra Costa County.

McCarty’s proposal still has value, as it put a spotlight on the confusing, and sometimes frustrating, lines of authority for public education in California.

Decisions about curriculum and academic standards are made by the state Board of Education, whose members are appointed by the governor. The superintendent manages the department charged with implementing the board’s policies.

The superintendent’s role is primarily administrative, like other state agency directors, but with a higher profile. There have been conflicts in the past when governors from one party served with superintendents from another, although the post is officially nonpartisan.

If the superintendent’s job is worthy of reconsideration, perhaps the lieutenant governor’s role is too.

The lieutenant governor has few official duties beyond filling in when the governor is out of state. The job was created before modern communications or air travel allowed governors to return home quickly in the event of an emergency. Perhaps the attorney general or another statewide official could be designated to succeed a governor who didn’t finish his or her term. Several states already have gone that route.

It is unusual — but not unprecedented — to eliminate or consolidate elective positions. Sonoma County seamlessly combined several functions into the offices of the auditor-controller-treasurer-tax collector and the clerk-recorder-assessor-registrar of voters. Given the opportunity, state voters might streamline their government, starting with overdue elimination of the Board of Equalization.

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