A State of the State Speech Ripped from the Archives
Given Gov. Jerry Brown’s concern for excessive spending on new programs and his instance on maintaining budget reserves, here is a likely way he might begin his State of the State speech today: “Fortunately we began the year with a sufficient surplus to weather the decline in state revenues…But we cannot easily disregard the lessons […]
Why Don’t Angelenos Trust Homegrown Talent?
Last week, Michelle King was appointed superintendent of L.A. Unified, California’s largest school district. But can we really trust her to lead the Los Angeles schools? After all, she’s from Los Angeles. Actually, that understates how suspiciously local King is. As a child, she attended L.A. Unified schools. Then she got degrees from UCLA and […]
Audit the California High Speed Rail Authority
The California High Speed Rail Authority (CSHRA) once again opposes oversight of its actions. On Tuesday the Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) held a hearing on the request by State Senator Andy Vidak to have the State Auditor conduct an audit of the Authority’s activities. The Committee on a strictly party line vote denied the request. The […]
Golden Blues: 2015 Saw Regressive Blue Regulations
California legislators love to regulate stuff, and 2015 was a particularly juicy year for them. A recent San Francisco Chronicle article demonstrates as much. The state legislature, over the course of the last year, passed “about three dozen employment laws” regulating various workplace issues. A litany of the most prominent: “…SB358, the widely publicized Fair Pay Act. […]