Charles T. Munger, Jr., and Sam Blakeslee will soon be collecting signatures on their California initiative called the “California Legislature Transparency Act.” It would require that bills be in print for three days before either house of the legislature votes on them.

Ironically, if this had been in effect in 2009, the top-two measure promoted by Munger might never have been created. The bill for the top-two system was introduced and passed between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. on the morning of February 19, 2009. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed it into law minutes after it was put on his desk. No legislative hearings were held on it, and the public had zero input and zero chance to weigh in.

The proposed initiative also requires that all legislative committee hearings be filmed (currently, some of them are filmed), and gives public access to these recordings. The initiative permits these recordings to be broadcast by anyone, and specifically permits it for campaign ads.