Congresswoman Karen Bass Addresses California's Systemic Problems
Bass says term limits, ballot initiatives contribute to state's budget problems
10/21/2011
Cynthia Ribas-Santos,
San Diego News Room
Congresswoman Karen Bass (D- Calif.) spoke at UCSD’s fourth annual Charles Nathanson Memorial Lecture to address the question, “Why can’t California fix itself?”
“I’m going to tell you the story about my time in the legislature and in that, explain why California is broken,” Bass told attendees.
Bass became a member of the state Assembly in 2004, serving as speaker for two of those years before successfully running for the U.S. House in 2010, where she is on the House Budget Committee and the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
One of the most fundamental reasons California is “broken," Bass said, is term limits. Currently, the term limits stand at six years in the state Assembly and eight years in the state Senate.
“Thirty-eight million people [in California], right now the world’s eighth largest economy, and you have a bunch of amateurs running the state,” she said. “When I ran and was elected, I never served in public office before and within a few years I’m running the state of California.”
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