CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Initiative Survives Challenge

Over two dissents, the California Supreme Court refused to hear a constitutional challenge to Gov. Pete Wilson’s fall ballot initiative calling for wide reforms in the state welfare system and budget process. The measure, Proposition 165, among other things would give the governor broad new power to act in budget deadlocks like the current stalemate in Sacramento. The justices declined an unusual request by foes of the initiative to order immediate post-election review of the measure if it is approved by the electorate Nov. 3. Justices Stanley Mosk and Marvin R. Baxter voted for review--two votes short of the number required by the seven-member court. Last June, a state Court of Appeal upheld the measure, rejecting claims that it violates a constitutional provision limiting initiatives to a single subject.