EDITORIAL : LOCKYER COMES UP SHORT INITIATIVE MAY BE NEEDED TO REFORM THE BUDGET PROCESS.

BILL Lockyer, the politically powerful president pro tem of the state Senate, is right about one thing: Getting rid of the two-thirds majority requirement would make it easier for the Legislature to pass a budget on time.

That, however, isn't enough. What's really needed is a more comprehensive change that, among other things, would ensure the adoption of balanced budgets, require an adequate reserve to tide the state over during emergencies and prohibit outside borrowing to finance deficits.

Those were some of the recommendations of the California Constitutional Revision Commission, which was appointed by the Legislature and the governor in 1994 to suggest ways to restructure state and local government. The panel submitted its recommendations to the Legislature last year, but the lawmakers refused to vote on any of them.

If that's an example of what the Legislature really thinks about reform, the time has come for public-spirited citizens to start thinking seriously about bypassing the Legislature and submitting an initiative directly to the people.

The commission noted that many people who do business with the state aren't paid on time when budgets are late, and recommended that the pay of the governor and the legislators be forfeited when that happened. Maybe an initiative with language along those lines would get Sacramento's attention.