Predicting the Redistricting Map – How the Republicans will be Screwed
Predicting the map is always fun. Even though the final census figures are not
out yet, people can and are drawing new legislative and congressional districts
for California. One of the more
interesting is the work of "Silver Spring" a Democratic activist from Maryland
with a knack for numbers.
In 2010, prior to the passage of Proposition 20, he draw a
highly partisan gerrymander of California’s 53 congressional districts that he
said would result in the election of 46 Democrats and seven Republicans to
congress, a loss of 12 Republicans from the current delegation. That won’t happen with the Citizens
Redistricting Commission doing the job.
So Silver Spring has drawn a new map with nice compact
districts that employs racial gerrymandering to cut out Republicans. His argument, a very legitimate one, is that
the Commission will be pressured by outside groups to maximize Latino
districts, given the huge growth in Latino population in the past decade.
Enterprise Zones Boost the California Economy
California’s
economy needs all the help it can get. It is barely growing. Its unemployment
rate, at 12.5%, is the second highest in the nation. Yet in his
budget-balancing proposal, Gov. Jerry Brown includes a money-saving idea that,
if adopted, would kill a program that keeps more than 1 million Californians
working and generates millions in tax revenues. He claims this program doesn’t
significantly contribute to the state economy. The governor is wrong.
Begun in
1986, the state’s Enterprise Zone Program offers tax breaks and other
incentives to more than 100,000 companies doing business in any of 42
designated areas with high unemployment and poverty rates. The zones range in
size from 1.7 square miles to 671 square miles. And they boost local economic
activity.
“Patchwork” High Speed Rail System Unraveling?
Cross-posted at NewGeography.
The widely dispersed opposition to proposals for high speed rail (genuine and faux) led Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to say that the Administration would press forward in a patchwork fashion if necessary.
"Patchwork" may be an overstatement. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) has plans to eliminate high speed rail funding in the current fiscal year. Already, holes have appeared in the high-speed rail plans with the cancellation of the Milwaukee to Madison line by Gov. Scott Walker and the cancellation of the Cincinnati to Cleveland line by Gov. John Kasich.
Lockyer: RDAs Entering Into Bad Deals
Cross-posted at CalWatchdog.
Immediately following Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal in January, the Legislative Analyst’s Office published an Overview of the Governor’s 2011-2012 Budget. As is often the case with the LAO, the analysis appears largely supportive, but reading deeper into the detail, analysts express significant reservations, specifically warning of one potential danger area with Brown’s proposal to eliminate the state’s 425 redevelopment agencies.
The LAO recommended that the Legislature take immediate action to pass “urgency legislation” as soon as possible, “prohibiting redevelopment agencies from taking actions that increase their debt.”
But the Legislature has not yet done this.