SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Good-government groups are calling for reform of a state Assembly rule that lets lawmakers amend their votes once a bill has passed or failed.
An Associated Press analysis published this week found that lawmakers in the 80-member Assembly changed their votes more than 5,000 times during this year's legislative session, a practice that allows lawmakers to obscure how they act when votes actually matter. The state Senate allows vote changes only for the two party leaders.
Jim Mayer, executive director of the government-reform group California Forward, says the practice will "erode confidence in the Legislature." He says a ballot initiative may be necessary to change it.
The watchdog group Common Cause says it may target the practice in a package of legislative reforms proposed for the 2013 session.
The Associated Press