Jerry Brown is Back, and so is Proposition 13
Proposition 13
never went away, of course, but with the return of Jerry Brown as governor
comes more conversation about Proposition 13, the property tax cutting measure
that will be forever linked to Brown. The famous ballot prop passed during
Brown’s first term as governor. He opposed it when it was on the ballot but led
the effort to implement the measure when voters overwhelmingly passed Prop 13.
Now Brown wants to change some of the ways the measure was implemented.
Yesterday, Brown told the California State Association of Counties that he
wants to realign government and return program responsibilities and
accountability to local government. The big question for local government is
how those programs will be funded.
Will Brown seek authorization for new taxing authority for local government?
Will he see that money is shipped directly to local governments from the state
with no strings attached? Or will he consider changes to Proposition 13 so that
property tax will play an even larger role in funding local government?
Time for a Reality Check – California is Broken
Noted “straight talker,” State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, must be living in another California. In a recent Los Angeles Times editorial (“California Isn’t Broken”), he suggests that criticisms of California’s fiscal and economic problems are overblown. While I agree that the state will repay its bond debt, I strongly disagree that we are helpless victims of the recession. Our 12.4 percent unemployment, unfriendly business climate and runaway state spending must be addressed if we are to pull out of our financial abyss.
It’s time for straight talk and a reality check. Blaming the recent economic downturn for California’s woes ignores many of the deeper underlying problems.
Treasurer Lockyer quickly passes over the fact that California’s unemployment rate is the second highest in the country. Our state lost 1.2 million private sector jobs from October 2007 to October 2010. More than 141,000 people left California during a twelve month period in 2008-09 because they could not find work. Jobs and opportunity continue to disappear because of high taxes, costly regulations and job-killer policies.
Silver screen means jobs for Golden State
The California Film and Television Tax Credit has proven to be a wildly successful case of the state working with businesses to keep jobs (and over $2 billion in direct spending) right here in California. But not all critics are impressed.
Prior to the Film and Television Tax Credit, “runaway production” had cost California over 10,600 jobs in film, TV and commercial production, and more than 25,000 related jobs, according to a report by The Milken Institute, a nonprofit economic think tank.
Unfortunately, taking our allies of commerce for granted is not a new attitude. The flight of film production, like so many other industries, is part of a distinctly Californian trend. To illustrate, forty years ago California was the hub of our nation’s aerospace industry. Thousands of Californians—with varying skill sets and education levels—could count on on well-paying, high quality aerospace jobs. Twenty years later, my friends and I grew up believing that we would have similar job opportunities in the entertainment industry.
Dual Priorities for California: Jobs and a Balanced Budget
In a story that made headlines in every newspaper around the country, and perhaps around the world, Jerry Brown was sworn in to his third term as Governor of California this week. The eyes of our nation and the world are on Governor Brown and California because of our well publicized 12.4 percent unemployment rate and $28 billion budget deficit.
Governor Brown began his speech with the following statement:
“With so many people out of work and so many families losing their homes in foreclosure, it is not surprising that voters tell us they are worried and believe that California is on the wrong track. Yet, in the face of huge budget deficits year after year and the worst credit rating among the 50 states, our two political parties can’t come close to agreeing on the right path forward. They remain in their respective comfort zones, rehearsing and rehashing old political positions.”