Looking for increased revenues to pay for the Los Angeles school strike settlement, the plan apparently is to largely target business. This will add to the perception that Los Angeles and California are not business friendly. Two types of property taxes are aimed at raising school revenue, one weighted toward business, the second aimed exclusively […]

In the wake of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s action to issue a moratorium on the death penalty, Assemblyman Marc Levine filed a constitutional amendment, ACA 12, to abolish the death penalty. Given the backlash against Newsom’s action there is no guarantee that the Democrats, despite their supermajorities in both houses, would garner the necessary two-thirds vote […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call for withholding state funds—in this instance transportation money– from cities for not meeting their housing goals was wrong from the beginning. Newsom has now pulled back on that dictate opting for a carrot rather than a stick solution, at least temporarily.  But it would be a terrible precedent, one that has […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a law approved by the people. He will sign an executive order putting a moratorium on the death penalty while he is governor despite voters expressing support for the death penalty in passing Proposition 66 in 2016 while a second initiative on that ballot to abolish the death penalty was […]

I could direct this column at Silicon Valley with an “I told you so.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Friday proposal to break up big tech companies bears out my warning on this site from last September that tech companies’ actions are setting the stage for a return to Teddy Roosevelt type trust-busting. In her post explaining […]

I guess this is what the initiative process was made for. While officials won’t act on major pension reforms and the court doesn’t engage on the basic issue dealing with the public employee pension structure, which is putting immense pressure on local government budgets, an initiative may be necessary to bring sense to the “California […]

In the wake of the announcement this weekend that no charges would be brought against the police officers that shot and killed unarmed Stephon Clark, Governor Gavin Newsom spoke of the need for increased community policing to build trust between residents and policing agencies. He should look at the success of the Los Angeles Police […]

A one-two punch is being aimed at California’s oil and gas industry and that just may be fine with anti-fossil fuel crusaders but it could have an immediate disruptive effect on the California economy. Between proposals to raise the oil severance tax and property taxes, California’s oil and gas producing companies face a double whammy […]

California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission jumps into it’s second line-drawing exercise with the process to select new commissioners beginning this Friday with a Town Hall at the State Auditor’s office explaining the ins-and-outs of being a commissioner. In this era of politicized politics, would be commissioners will be those who can set an example of impartiality […]