SB 311 Shows What’s Wrong With Transition to Marijuana Legalization
Marijuana legalization isn’t working for a simple reason: the new legal system doesn’t come with enforcement. That’s the paradox of legalization—it requires a new drug war of sorts. When you’re transitioning from a black market to a legal market, you need to do two things. You need to develop a clear, coherent, easily regulated and […]
High Court Ruling Raises Questions on Passage of Local Special Taxes
How many voters does it take to pass a local special tax? Since Proposition 13 in 1978, voters have had the final say on local tax increases. A subsequent initiative passed in 1996, Proposition 218, further required most local tax measures to gain approval by two-thirds of voters, whether proposed by a local government agency […]
The Time for CALTRANS to Restructure Passed Decades Ago!
The engineering and construction (E&C) industries have a common attribute, you’re always working yourself out of a job! Once you’ve designed the bridge, you need another bridge to design! Over the last few decades, transportation and communications have been greatly enhanced to the point that every E&C firm is faced with huge and very competitive […]
‘Chinafornia’ And Global Trade In Age Of Trump
One of the last regions settled en masse by Europeans, California’s trajectory long has been linked to its partners across the Pacific. Yet these ties could be deeply impacted by President Trump’s immigration and trade policies, as well as resulting blowback by the authoritarian regime in Beijing. In recent decades, California has become something of […]