Let’s Avoid a “High Speed Rail” Situation in Space
Putting aside questions of effectiveness and even validity of the satellite project proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown at his Global Climate Action Summit, we should be concerned that the satellite could emulate the high-speed rail in that the costs will not be covered as promised and that taxpayers will end up holding the bag. The […]
Why the Governor Should Veto AB 3081
Assembly Bill 3081, authored by Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, is pending before Governor Jerry Brown after having passed both houses of the Legislature. AB 3081 would require a client employer to share with a labor contractor all civil legal responsibility and civil liability for harassment for all workers supplied by that labor contractor. In […]
The “No Consequences for Crime” Bill
It is hard to believe, but it is the truth; should Governor Brown sign into law SB 1437, criminals in California can no longer be punished for the natural and probable consequences of violent crimes they knowingly aided and encouraged. SB 1437 was ostensibly introduced by Senator Skinner to abolish the application of accomplice felony murder rule […]
California’s Children’s Hospitals
I wish California children were doing as well as California children’s hospitals. Even as the Golden State has maintained the nation’s highest child poverty rate, underfunded its schools, and made housing prohibitively expensive for families, California has developed a system of children’s hospitals that seems to occupy a parallel universe in which kids’ needs actually […]
Study Provides New Ammo for K-12 Schools Battle
A decade ago, an academic research team produced a massive report on the shortcomings in how California’s K-12 schools educate about 6 million children and adolescents. The “Getting Down to Facts” report was issued just as a very severe recession hammered California and school financing, most of which comes from the state’s income-tax-centered revenue system, […]