Opinion articles provide independent perspectives on key community issues, separate from our newsroom reporting.

Who does your government work for? It’s a question that people of all political persuasions frequently answer in the same way: “Not me.”

As members of the state Legislature, we can tell you firsthand that our government isn’t working for most Californians.

When the political environment becomes so toxic that protesters turn intoviolent insurrectionists who invade the halls of our nation’s Capitol, it’s time to take stock of our democracy.

We are different elected leaders who share similar concerns about what afflicts our country and our state. Despite our varied backgrounds — Republicans from Los Angeles and the Central Coast, Democrats from farming communities and Orange County, and a political independent — we have arrived at the same conclusion: Government too often does not work for the people we represent.

That must change, and we intend to help change it.

In Washington, D.C., partisan bickering has sidetracked solutions, and stalemates have caused government shutdowns. The best hope of getting beyond these deep divisions is theCongressional Problem Solvers Caucus, which has emerged as a forum for compromise. Its 50 members — 25 Democrats and 25 Republicans — are all committed to putting partisanship aside to find workable solutions to the most difficult disagreements. For example, we have the Problem Solvers to thank for breaking the gridlock that secured a COVID-19 relief bill before Christmas.

California’s challenges differ, but they are no less destructive. In the state Legislature, party loyalty determines committee assignments, staff resources and even office space. Republicans are pressured by their caucus to disavow any solutions offered by Democrats, and Democrats are expected to march in lockstep behind their leaders.

What has this behavior gotten us? Wildfires burn out of control. The line at the DMV is hours long. Millions of hardworking people still cannot access unemployment benefits during a pandemic while billions of dollars have been paid out to fraudsters and criminals.

In Washington, politicians have the other side of the aisle to blame for any problem they have failed to solve. With essentially single-party rule in California, what is our excuse? We must do better.

That is why we are forming the California Problem Solvers Caucus — a bicameral (Senate and Assembly) and party-agnostic (Democrats, Republicans and independents) group dedicated to finding solutions and creating results.

Our goal is to create a group of legislators committed more to progress than to ideology. Compromise is not a bad word. We intend to be a forum where bipartisan solutions are rewarded. If a solution makes sense, we will do everything in our power to get it over the finish line no matter who came up with the idea.

Some of our ideas include:

• A non-partisan attorney general and secretary of state;

• Consolidation and reorganization of California’s more than 200 state agencies, departments and commissions with clear lines of accountability;

• A two-year budget cycle, where each even-numbered year the Legislature focuses on oversight of the executive branch and its vast array of departments;

• A streamlined legislative process for bills with bipartisan support.

Some 225 years ago, George Washington called political parties “the worst enemy” of government leading to the “ruin of liberty.” In that spirit, the California Problem Solvers Caucus will work with thought leaders across the spectrum to create a government that works for the people it serves.