To borrow a term from the legal world, prima facie evidence indicates the governor and legislature have little regard for what the voters think and choose to go their own way. It can be seen with the governor’s moratorium on the death penalty and the legislature’s decision on rent control. Governor Newsom’s position on the […]
If the governor says okay, we will soon see public banks established in local jurisdictions pop-up around California, another step of government officials invading the private sector. The legislature sent to Governor Newsom AB 857 by Assembly members David Chiu and Miguel Santiago to allow for the creation of public banks, controlled by local government […]
If AB 5 to reclassify workers in the new economy becomes law it will set up future trouble for the state much like the bills in the 1990s to deregulate energy and the granting of wider pension benefits for public employees. The bills are quite different and their paths to becoming law are also different. […]
Does it take a two-thirds vote or a majority vote of the people to raise local taxes placed on the ballot via the initiative process? Answer: No one knows—yet. Like many policy debates, it will take a state Appeals Court or the California Supreme Court to decide. Uncertainty already existed over the vote requirement for […]
One might look at the last week of the legislative session like the last episode of a TV series. The job of the performers, writers and producers is to tie up loose ends in many of the story lines, and there are many story lines under the Capitol dome that beg for an ending. By […]
In the California legislature, standing up for the environment while taking a shot at the Trump Administration is business as usual. But when business as usual casts a wide net that comes with consequences that can interfere with the state’s agriculture and the state’s economy then legislators should have second thoughts. Such is the situation […]
Now that SB 276, which tightened the law to prevent children from avoiding vaccinations, has passed the question is: What Will Gavin Do? Gov. Newsom seems to have been moved by arguments made by opponents of the bill, twice raising objections that would need to be alleviated, even though he indicated he would sign the […]
Gov. Gavin Newsom created a crystal ball commission to look into the future of how the nature of work will change in California. There will be agendas at work on the commission, with union organizations heavily represented. Can the commission fairly focus on how the future of work will develop and should develop, or will […]
Ballot questions, not candidate races, are destined to dominate voters’ interest in California’s November 2020 elections. Candidate races are very predictable at this time in the state. Democrats have a huge registered voter advantage and are likely to sweep away any challenges to their current dominance, while the presidential preference race in the Golden State […]
If you don’t think the coming split roll measure on the November 2020 ballot intended to raise business property taxes is going to be a lollapalooza of a battle, you have not picked up the signs. To use a Churchill-like title the British Prime Minister put on the first volume of his World War II […]
