reporter: the attendees were given background information and then polled by stanford professor jim fishkin, who zeroed in on whether the initiative process needs changing. some californians have argued it promotes spending without raising revenues, and is controlled by special interests. but the conferees liked it. >> they see the initiative as the people's process, and they want the legislature to keep its hands off it. >> reporter: dealing with the troublesome state budget was tough for the attendees. fishkin found many conference participants bothered by california's requirement that two-thirds of legislators must approve new taxes, which the governor says he needs to balance the budget. >> there was also a concern for governability, the feeling that the two-thirds vote threshold for passing new taxes was paralyzing action. so taxes are the hardest issue, but people were finding new ways of thinking about how to make this system work. >> reporter: fishkin concluded: "regardless of party, the people wanted transparency and accountability, and they wanted government to be able to make dec