Letters to the Editor: Gut-and-amend is not way to legislate

Re “Proposition 54 is a special interest ploy” (Another View, Aug. 11): As the ultimate legislative insider, Steve Maviglio surely understands that end-of-session late-night amendments, followed by later-that-same-night votes, are routinely employed by special interests whose proposals couldn’t stand the scrutiny allowed by deliberative review in the sunshine.

Virtually every year, I was asked to suddenly analyze end-of-session amendments that seemed to pop up out of nowhere. I would often ask the proponents why their proposals hadn’t been introduced in time to allow a normal six- to eight-month legislative review process. I don’t recall ever receiving a plausible answer. Maviglio claims to want to give more power to citizens. Last-minute amendments votes are surely not the way to do that.

HOWARD POSNER, SACRAMENTO