In California, Halloween Isn’t about Neighborhoods
Last Halloween, I felt like the victim in a horror film. I was the guy ignoring the wise warning of my older next-door neighbor. You’ll need at least 15 bags to survive, he told me, with a hollow look in his eyes. Maybe more. But I couldn’t imagine the terrible hunger that the dark night […]
Property Taxes and Pensions
As pension obligations faced by local governments continue to put the squeeze on budgets in California a cautionary tale is playing out in Illinois – a reminder of Proposition13’s value to California taxpayers. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a speech last week if state lawmakers do not pass pension reform the city’s next budget […]
New Rules for the Rulemakers
This week marks a small but significant change in how state regulators must justify and develop major new regulations. Beginning November 1, state agencies proposing a major new regulation must undertake a rigorous economic analysis, ultimately geared toward helping the Administration determine which regulatory alternative will be most effective at the least cost to meet […]
Sacramento Spotlight: Comprehensive Good Governance Reform Part 2 – Eliminating Term Limits
In November 1990, California voters imposed term limits on their state-level elected officials in the form of Proposition 140, which received 52% support. In June 2012, 61% of voters opted in favor of Proposition 28, a ballot sleight-of-hand sold as “punishing” lawmakers – reducing their Sacramento tenure from 14 to 12 years – when it […]
Fixing California: The Green Gentry’s Class Warfare
Historically, progressives were seen as partisans for the people, eager to help the working and middle classes achieve upward mobility even at expense of the ultrarich. But in California, and much of the country, progressivism has morphed into a political movement that, more often than not, effectively squelches the aspirations of the majority, in large […]