The California Assembly went on a recess on July 19, and won’t return until August 20. Various election law bills that had already passed the Senate and all Assembly committees won’t get a vote in the full Assembly until August 20 at the earliest. They include SB 408 (to restrict who can circulate statewide initiatives), SB 439 (to count write-ins when the voter forgets to “x” the box next to the name written in), and SB 37 (the National Popular Vote plan for presidential elections).
If you are motivated to help protect the initiative process, and especially if you live in California, now is a good time to contact your Assemblymember and express opposition to SB 408.
Regarding SB 37. I think that it is important for people to ask whether the compact-based approach to a national popular vote reform is viable. My understanding of the compact is that it makes assumptions about the behavior of *states that are not in the compact*. Specifically it relies on each state providing plurality style counts of popular votes. This probably makes the reform unviable as a compact cannot dictate behavior of non-member states.
See my comment:
http://www.fairvote.org/blog/index.php/2007/07/16/chicken-little-thinking-how-much-farther-can-the-sky-fall/#comment-110940