Ballot Initiatives and Public Records
As part of a federal lawsuit challenging the Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage, plaintiffs have demanded that the Yes on 8 side turn over internal campaign documents. Last week, a judge approved the disclosure request. Why? The plaintiffs are alleging that the ban is discriminatory, and want to see if the Yes on 8 campaign’s records offer evidence of discriminatory attitudes.
This case — and a recent case in Washington state, involving questions of whether signatures on an anti-domestic partnership referendum petition could be made public — point to a weakness in the law on initiative and referendum campaigns: lack of disclosure. Initiative and referendum campaigns are conducted by private organizations and interest groups. But the act of sponsoring such a campaign is very much a public act — it’s the act of legislating. Legislative records should be public so voters and elected leaders are making choices based on the best available information.
California Needs a New Commission on Overregulation
As Vice Chairman of Jobs and Economic Recovery I realize in times of economic adversity there should be no higher priority for government than to find out how it can best help get businesses back on track towards job creation. This means finding the source of the problem, determining the best solution, and moving forward with determination and a solid plan. To date this has not happened.
As our federal government continues its experiment in a jobless recovery, it’s crucial for California to not make the same mistakes. The recent report on the cost of regulations on California business, which was delivered to the Governor’s office by the Small Business Advocate, gives a broad overview of all that state government has done to make things harder on businesses and working families, costing us 3.8 million jobs, hundreds of billions in costs to California businesses, and even billions lost in state revenues as a result of overregulation. In other words, government over regulation, is crushing the hopes and dreams of millions of California families..
Wrong Way on Olvera Street
Watching the city of Los Angeles try to manage a business is kind of like watching Tom DeLay dance. Man, it sure hurts the eyes.
The latest evidence is the city’s handling of the retail tenants on Olvera Street. It’s painful to see.
Olvera Street, where Los Angeles was born, was a little state historic park that was turned over to the city of Los Angeles 20 years ago. The few score of retail tenants have been there for years, many for decades, serving as kind of an anchor for the touristy street between downtown and Chinatown. Many of the businesses sell Mexican tchotchkes, enchiladas and stuff, and they claim they don’t make much money. But they don’t pay much rent, either.
Until now. The city has decided that it’s time to double the average rent and boost the common-area maintenance fees. As reported in last week’s issue of the Los Angeles Business Journal, merchants that have fallen behind in their rents are being kicked out, such as a glass-blowing shop that had been there for three decades.
Reflections from the Right Coast – Olympics, Health Care, and Women Dominate in Washington, D.C.
I’ve always viewed Washington, D.C. and Silicon Valley in a similar way. Both places are more a state of mind than an actual region. The area on the left coast is focused on innovation and making money. The one on the right coast is focused on power and spending money.
Last week, I spent four days in Washington, D.C. with Women Impacting Public Policy, a national organization of more than half a million women business owners. I arrived on Wednesday for two conferences and Capitol Hill briefings aimed to increase awareness of women-owned businesses and their impact on the U.S. economy.
Statistics released in a study commissioned by WIPP, the National Women’s Business Council, the Center for Women’s Business Research and Wal-Mart showed women-owned businesses produce employment for more than 23 million people in the United States. If women-owned businesses were their own country, they would have a greater GDP than Canada, India, and Vietnam combined – the 5th largest GDP in the world – ahead of France, the U.K. and Italy.