Nearly Forty Years Later … Another Prop 19 to Legalize Marijuana
History often repeats itself, sometimes in odd ways.
Proposition 19 on the California ballot will not be the first time California voters had an opportunity to legalize marijuana and the previous effort carried the same proposition number. Proposition 19 in 1972 qualified for the ballot by volunteers attempted to legalize the drug but fell at the polls winning only 33% of the vote.
The 1972 measure would have allowed personal pot growing and use but forbade selling the weed. Today’s Proposition 19 would allow legal, recreational use.
Diversity and the CA Redistricting Commission
On Tuesday, California’s Applicant Review Panel sits down to narrow the pool of remaining applicants. The Panel’s
responsibility, under the regulations adopted by the State Auditor, include ensuring the final pool reasonably reflects California’s
complex diversity.
As stated in Proposition 11, California’s diversity
is defined as "including, but not limited to, racial, ethnic,
geographic, and gender." The ARP’s June 11th decisions, which reduced the pool to its current 622 applicants, were done based
on individual evaluations of each applicant. As it reduces the pool
from 622 down to the 120 people it will invite for interviews, the Panel is expected to begin looking at the pool as more of a group.
Earlier postings evaluated the overall demographics of the pool of 622. Yet the Panel’s
decisions are more accurately evaluated by looking within each of the
three separate pools: Democrats, Republicans, and Others. The Rose
Institute acquired the full database of applicants (through a public
records request) and analyzed the demographics of each pool. The
results indicate the opportunities and challenges facing the ARP.
Tax Holiday is the Start of Real Business Tax Reform in Los Angeles
The
City of Los Angeles’ gross receipts tax is a major obstacle to
attracting and retaining job creators in the City.
That’s why the
proposal by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and motion by the City Council
to provide a three-year tax holiday for new businesses is an important
step in the right direction. It also dramatically reinforces the need
for comprehensive tax reform to encourage all of our existing
businesses to retain and grow new jobs in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles has
the distinction of having the highest gross receipts tax rate of all 88
cities in L.A. County and one of the highest of any major city in the
United States. In our information-driven economy where customers are as
likely to be overseas or across the country as they are to be next
door, many businesses are very flexible about where they locate their
offices.