Water: Will the Legislature get this one right?
The Legislature’s day-long hearing yesterday addressing California’s future – water, should be a wake up call for everyone that this issue needs to be done now but more importantly – it needs to be done correctly.
The last three years of water shortages have brought us all face to face with the consequences of continued inaction on the water front. Experts at the University of California estimate that cutting off water deliveries to agriculture have cost the state more than 35,000 jobs this year alone. The losses to California’s economy approach $1 billion, and that only counts the amount lost in the Central Valley. The losses statewide for all the businesses that depend upon an abundant, reliable and affordable source of water have been much greater.
Where is the Study on Small Business Regulation?
For years, we’ve heard that regulations overly burden small business. But, how much does regulation really cost small business? To answer that question, in 2006 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that mandated a study on the cost of regulation on small business in California. AB 2330, authored by Assemblyman Juan Arambula (I-Fresno), required the Office of the Small Business Advocate to commission a study on the cost of state regulations on small businesses and report back to the Legislature by October 1, 2007.
That was not a typo: October 2007. It’s August 2009, so where’s the study?
The study has been completed. It was finished and delivered in December 2008 due to a delay in awarding the contract because of a vacancy in the Small Business Advocate’s office. The report was done by Sanjay Varshney, the Dean of Business Administration at Cal State, Sacramento and Dennis Tootelian, Director of the Center for Small Business at the same school.
So where is it?
Fiorina Has Big Questions to Answer
To the surprise of absolutely no one, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is taking the first official steps toward challenging Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer next year.
On Tuesday, the Los Altos Hills Republican filed her “Carly for California” campaign name with the IRS and sent out a kinda/sorta campaign press release to announce it.
“I have received a great deal of encouragement to make a run for the Senate in 2010 from people all across the political spectrum,’’ she said in the release. “Today’s filing … is the logical next step in evaluating running for office.’’
During the “full and thorough evaluation of her candidacy” that Fiorina promises, she should work on answering a single question: Why does she believe she’s qualified to be California’s next senator?”
California Voters Support Legal Reform
California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) released a survey of California voters on their attitudes toward jobs and the economy. The responses clearly illustrate that Californians are very concerned about the economic future of their families and the state, and they believe lawsuits are part of the problem.
According to the survey, California’s voters want the legislature to enact legal reforms that will attract and retain businesses and create jobs.
This survey proves what most of us already know – now is not the time to place further economic strain on anyone, whether they be businesses, consumers or families. When our state has become such a hostile place to do business that other states are aggressively targeting California businesses to relocate, the time for change has come.
If You’re Going to Appoint a Placeholder…
In the past week, state pols have been speculating about the next big job that could be open in California: lieutenant governor.
Assuming John Garamendi wins a seat in Congress, all sorts of potential replacements have been discussed. Bob Hertzberg. Abel Maldonado. Dean Florez. Tom Campbell. But all of those folks have political futures – or think they do. The legislature might stand in the way of giving the job to someone with ambitions. Instead, the governor is seen as likely to appoint someone without future political ambitions. A placeholder.
I’m all for that. The governor also might leave the chair open, as a way of making a statement. It’s not at all clear the state needs a lieutenant governor. In fact, the state’s division of executive authority among various elected officials – lt. gov, attorney general, treasurer, controller, insurance commissioner, superintendent of public instruction – has been something less than a success. This division of authority creates conflict and undermines accountability. As in so many areas of California government, it’s often not clear who has the executive authority on a particular issue. (See the recent dispute between the controller and governor over furloughs).