It may be the dog days of summer, but Sacramento's political professionals are licking their chops at the prospects of a hearty campaign season.
Democracy is a messy thing, and in the Golden State it means another epic and expensive ballot fight in 2012.
A check of records at Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office shows 13 measures have been submitted for review by the attorney-general's office.
Among them, measures that would partially dismantle the recently-approved state budget deal.
State Senator Ted Gaines, R-Roseville has filed a referendum that would roll back a $150 dollar fee to be assessed annually on property owners who lilve in rural or wildland areas.
That fee is meant to pay for firefighting costs. Another measure would undo a deal requiring redevelopment agencies to cough up millions to the state in order to stay in business.
The list includes some familiar topics.
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Raising the retirement age for public pensioners, banning teen abortions without parental consent, easing restrictions on marijuana use.
There's also a measure to cancel SB48, the newly-signed law requiring California textbooks to include material on the contributions of gay and lesbian people.
None of this involves measures already approved for signature-gathering.
A dozen proposals have been given the green light. Among the most prominent, Amazon's efforts to kill a bill requiring on-line retailers to collect sales tax, an effort to tax oil production (California is the only major oil-producing state without such a levy), and a new effort to prevent labor unions from collecting dues for political campaigns.
It's another means of dealing with California's jobless rate. Look for the card tables and petition-gatherers (who are paid by the signature) to show up in force soon at your local grocery store, Target, or Wal-Mart.
And voters, brace yourselves for a whole new round of self-governance.