Defy the Judges, Governor
What happened to the action, governor?
For two straight days, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has whined about judges, especially federal judges, who are challenging the authority of state government. He’s complained about a recent U.S. district court judge who imposed a preliminary injunction blocking cuts that he and the legislature agreed to make in home support services. He railed against other federal judges that have demanded the state spend more on prisons. And he took a shot at the federal judiciary for imposing restrictions on water delivery. He even criticized previous state court rulings that limited some of the furloughs he’s ordered to save money.
“The big problem, as you know, we have is the federal judges… makes it very difficult to run the state,” he said in a press conference Wednesday. “We have a limited amount of revenues coming in and therefore we can only spend what we have. There are a lot of cuts that we made that we hate, that we don’t like.”
More and More Initiatives; Newsom; Status Quo Debate
Initiatives, initiatives and more initiatives. By my count there are 50 initiative measures either already cleared by the Attorney General’s Office or sitting in the IN basket. And, some of the expected big money initiatives have not been filed yet. No split roll, spending limit, oil severance tax or even the measure to call for a constitutional convention.
Voters could get an advanced degree in political science if the ballot book is chock full of legal language, analysis and political arguments next Fall. Measures already filed cover familiar ground including abortions; the two-thirds vote requirement (both dealing with taxes and the budget and the budget alone); term limits; local government protections; and closing tax loopholes or denying business incentives, depending on your point of view.
Hold on to your hat, the initiative battles could outshine the governor’s race and certainly outspend the gubernatorial candidates even with a couple of billionaires vying for the state’s top spot.
A roadmap for Legislative reform
“Reform” is the byword in Sacramento and the meme on the blogs. Constitutional Convention. California Forward. And we’re about to be awash in proposed ballot initiatives for November 2010. Perhaps in response to the former, or in anticipation of the latter, the California Legislature is getting into the act.
Speaker Karen Bass and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg announced the creation of a special Legislative Committee on Reform to “look at ways to make the Legislature more transparent and effective and make state government more efficient and customer friendly.” The committees, chaired by Assemblyman Mike Feuer and Senator Mark DeSaulnier, are having their inaugural meeting today.
Bravo. If the Legislature can take a deep breath, reach across the aisle, and adopt substantive reforms, then maybe they can begin to climb out of the hole, instead of continuing to dig. In that spirit, here is my prescription for some easy, short-term successes – two principles, and three substantive proposals.
What We’ve Learned So Far From the Federal Stimulus in California
The continued high unemployment
rates announced in the past few weeks for the nation (9.8%) and the state
(12.2%) have increased the calls for additional targeted job creation measures.
A range of strategies are being put forward this week– tax credits for private
sector job creation, another round of infrastructure investments, even
government as the employer of last resort.
I’ve been engaged since earlier
this year in tracking the job impacts of the Stimulus in California. In
crafting any further employment initiatives, it is important to examine
California’s Stimulus activities. Chief among these lessons are the following
five:
1. The job numbers announced for
Stimulus job creation in California are meaningless: Last week, Governor Schwarzenegger reported 100,000 jobs saved or created in California from the $5.3
billion in federal stimulus funds that state agencies have spent.