Controversy erupts over budget provision requiring more study for high-speed rail

An obscure sentence inserted deep in a massive state budget bill could delay construction of the proposed high-speed rail route from San Jose to San Francisco, potentially costing the region more than $1 billion in federal stimulus money, high-speed rail planners said Monday.

[Peter]

Software engineers are familiar with source version control. To modify a file, one checks out a writable copy -- only one individual can have a writable copy at a time. When the changes are ready, he checks in the changes. The changer's name is associated with the changes. Afterwards another individual can get a writable copy and make other mods.

We need something similar for legislation. It would have ways to (for example) wait for an amendment to be approved before inserting the changes, just as some software changes are not incorporated until they pass tests. We would need protection against letting one individual hog a writable file and stopping others from proposing other mods. Features oould let voters see what their legislator has done this session.