SACRAMENTO – Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, introduced a Constitutional Amendment that would allow the governor to retain authority when he or she leaves California. The Cox amendment (Amendment 6) is identical to one introduced by Sen. Jim Brulte, R-Rancho Cucamonga, last year which passed the State Senate but died in the Assembly.

Current law requires the Lieutenant Governor to act as the governor during a sitting-governor’s absence from the state.

“My proposal simply says that the governor is always the governor, regardless of where he or she might travel,” Cox said in announcing the proposal. “The people elect a governor to serve full-time, and California needs to catch up with modern technology. With cell phones, wireless technology and other means of instant communication there is no reason that the governor’s authority must be temporarily limited just because he or she has left the state. It’s just common sense.”

Amendments must pass both houses of the California State Legislature by a two-thirds vote and then be put in front of voters at the next statewide election. According to Peter DeMarco, spokesman for Cox, proponents of the measure are not holding out much hope that the amendment could appear next November.

Stephan Green, a spokesman for Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, predicted the proposed amendment would meet the same fate as the previous one – and for good reasons. “It is very important to have someone on the scene to interact with Homeland Security and the Office of Emergency Services,” Green said.

As an example, he referred to Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy, a Democrat who served under Republican governors Dukmejian and Wilson. Green said that McCarthy responded to several major emergencies in the governors’ absences – the Loma Prieta earthquake, the Northridge earthquake and the riots in Los Angeles, among others.

DeMarco said that Cox believes the governor is no longer unavailable, even if out of state. “The Constitution was written at a time when if the governor left California someone needed to be in charge,” DeMarco said. “Those were the days of the telegraph and horse drawn wagons that didn’t allow for quick trips back and forth. Times have changed and we have a 19th century provision that doesn’t keep up with modern times.”

DeMarco also said that endowing a lieutenant governor with executive powers can, and has, led to some political shenanigans. This arises, in part, because both the governor and lieutenant governor are elected independently and are often members of opposing political parties.

California’s most recent experience with a power grab by a lieutenant governor happened during Democrat Jerry Brown’s administration when Mike Curb, the Republican lieutenant governor, appointed a judge when Brown was out of the state. The governor rescinded the appointment upon his return.

Green said the benefits of empowering a Lt. Governor outweigh the risk he or she may do something untoward. “The governor has to sign an emergency proclamation in order to get federal aid,” he said. “That’s what puts planes in the air and activates emergency response.”

In Gov. Schwarzenegger’s case, Green said the hand-off of authority is even more important. “This governor has been out of state for 90 days in 15 months,” he said. “There is certainly a need to have someone keeping the lights on.”

Cox’s amendment would delete “absence from the state” as a reason for transfer of power. DeMarco admits there may be some stalling on moving the amendment but says his boss is confident of its eventual passage.

“California, the fifth largest economy in the world, prides itself on being ahead of the rest of the country on policy issues,” DeMarco said. “This one should be a no-brainer.”