“Think Long” has a Short Time to Act
Let’s connect a couple of stories from the last two days – The Wall Street Journal’s misreporting of what the Think Long Committee did (or did not do) to help deal with California’s budget crisis and Governor Jerry Brown’s veto of Sen. Mark Leno’s bill that would have allowed San Francisco to put a vehicle […]
BREAKING NEWS: Precedent setting Prop 26 Lawsuit Filed
A major lawsuit using Proposition 26’s provisions to protect taxpayers from hidden taxes will be filed in Los Angeles Superior Court today against the L.A. County ordinance banning the use of plastic carryout shopping bags. The lawsuit will be filed by Neilsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Gross & Leoni on behalf of plastics manufacturer Hilex-Poly and individuals […]
Vanity Fair Looks at the Monster that is Eating San Jose
For those of you old enough to remember the TV show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, (a salute here to former state senator Sheila Kuehl who was a star on that show), character Maynard G. Krebs (played by Bob Denver) often referred to his favorite movie, The Monster That Ate Cleveland. In reading Vanity […]
Governor’s New Power to Cut Red Tape and Create Jobs has a Narrow Window
Acknowledging that there are "too damn many regulations" thwarting business development and job creation in the state, Governor Jerry Brown signed a pair of bills in Los Angeles Tuesday to fast track approval of the new Los Angeles football stadium and allow similar fast approval for other big projects throughout the state. The focus of […]
Response to Calbuzz, Self-Appointed Poll Gurus
The self-appointed defender of righteous political polling, Calbuzz, criticizes a recent poll sponsored by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and Small Business Action Committee on the important measure sitting on Governor Brown’s desk, SB 202, that will move initiative measures to the November ballot and postpone a rainy day fund/spending limit. The problem for Calbuzz: […]
Rainy Day Fund/Spending Limit Supported in Poll
On Friday in this space, I reported on a poll sponsored by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the Small Business Action Committee that by a 3 to 1 margin voters wanted Governor Jerry Brown to veto a last minute bill passed by the legislature to move all initiatives to November ballots as well as […]
Bill to Move Initiatives is Opposed 3 to 1 in New Poll
A Field Poll this week indicated that SB 202 to move initiatives from the June 2012 ballot to November and moving a rainy day fund/spending limit scheduled for 2012 to 2014 was welcome by voters. However, a new poll giving more background to the question than the Field Poll question shows the reverse. By a […]
Field Poll: Hands off Prop 13!
Memo to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: The voters of California do not want to change Proposition 13. The mayor put a spotlight on the subject in an August speech to the Sacramento Press Club. He said it was time to revisit Proposition 13, emphasizing the idea that commercial property should pay more in property […]
A Proposition 98 for Law Enforcement Realignment
Governor Jerry Brown’s says he wants a constitutional guarantee for state funding for law enforcement realignment that will shift certain prisoners from state to local control. Mention a constitutional guarantee for funding and immediately Prop 98 comes to mind. Prop 98 guarantees about forty-percent of the state general fund money for schools. When state lawmakers […]
Small Business, State Mandates and SB 469
The first question to those seeking the governor’s veto of SB 469 at a news conference was a challenge about the bill’s effect on small business. Appropriately so. SB 469 is aimed at slowing – some would say stopping – construction of superstore centers such as Wal-Mart and Target Superstores. The measure by Senator Juan […]