Schabarum v. California Legislature

I dissent. In this case, we are not asked to review a budget item, but rather to construe a constitutional commandment that imposes limits on the legislative budget. The majority opinion leads to the result that the computers sitting on the desks of legislators are not their “equipment” and legal services they receive that are essential to the enactment of laws are not “operating expenses.” The People, in the course of adopting legislative reforms, could not have foreseen this result and I cannot join in the frustration of their clear purpose.

I

I agree the Legislature has the power to make…