ABSTRACT
Lacking the bureaucratic command enjoyed by the executive and missing the ultimate judicial power to declare policies unconstitutional, legislatures have a tough time balancing the other two branches of government. The imbalance is even greater in California, where the legislature operates with three major limitations. The legislature met symbolically for a day on December 3 to swear in new members and then recessed until January 6, 2003. The irony is that even though the voters were paralyzed, they expected the legislature to solve their dilemma. Lacking the bureaucratic command enjoyed by the executive and missing the ultimate judicial power to declare policies unconstitutional, legislatures have a tough time balancing the other two branches of government. Few understand the workings of the legislature as well as State Senator John Vasconcellos, who was first elected to the assembly in 1966 and who will become one of the last victims of term limits in 2004.
