Tying the Hands of California’s Politicians

Dino Cortopassi, a farmer outside Stockton, Calif., watched as the Central Valley city loaded up on debt for such amenities as a riverfront ballpark, only to slash services as the economy went into free fall. In 2012, Stockton declared bankruptcy, citing pension and other debt obligations, including municipal bonds. That spurred Cortopassi to write the No Blank Checks Initiative, a ballot measure that would require voter approval for many revenue bond issues exceeding $2 billion.

The initiative has been certified for the November 2016 ballot, and Cortopassi has pledged $4 million of his own money to promote it. “This is an effort to halt California’s rush into deeper and deeper debt,” says Cortopassi, 78, who co-owns Stanislaus Food Products, one of the largest tomato packers in the state. “It is to instill some discipline in a totally undisciplined feeding off the public trough.”