Santa Barbara Deserves a Special Session
Gov. Jerry Brown would be wise to convene a special session, as soon as possible, to look hard at the shootings in Santa Barbara. The framing question is: What Would It Take to Prevent Anything Like This From Happening Again? That’s the question that has been pressed by the father of one of the victims […]
Go Ahead, Texas: Just Try to Recruit This Californian
I forgive you, Toyota. I now know firsthand what it’s like to be recruited to the suburbs of north Dallas, the region that just stole away Toyota’s North American headquarters, and about 2,000 jobs, from the Southern California city of Torrance. The move—to a property in Plano, on the border of the city of Frisco—has […]
Very Small Steps Forward on Ballot Initiative System
SB 1253 hasn’t gotten much attention, but it deserves more. The legislation, backed by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, proposes several very small improvements for California’s ballot initiative system. It’s worth noting that the legislation does nothing to address the biggest flaw of the process: the inflexibility for which California initiatives are known worldwide. […]
My Horrible, Hopeful L.A. Commute
If you want to know why this column isn’t better, I’ve got an excuse for you: I have a killer Southern California commute. Since I started driving from my South Pasadena home to my Santa Monica office by way of Arcadia (which isn’t on the way) and back, I’ve spent between three and four hours […]
Flood LAX Anyway, Gov Brown
I’m out of state this week, having flown out of LAX. This flight – and another one two weeks ago – took me out of the familiar confines of Southwest Airlines’ Terminal 1. I had forgotten what a dump most of the place is. Small, dirty bathrooms. Unreliable baggage claims that are wide open to […]
Hold the Champagne on Prop 13 ‘Reform’
Nothing is so depressing about California governance as the triumphs. Make that “supposed” triumphs. The media and pundits are over the moon about a minor, rational tweak to the rules of reassessment for commercial property. Since Prop 13 doesn’t change and is so rarely discussed, this is being talked about as if it’s some kind […]
Would the Rainy Day Fund Make Prop 98 Even More Complicated?
The three-part formula that is Prop 98, our state’s education funding guarantee, is famously complicated, as I’ve written elsewhere you might think that no one would bother coming up with ways to make it even more complicated. But advocates of a rainy day fund seem to be determined to do exactly that. That’s because the […]
Why Would You Insure the California Budget With the Stock Market?
Governor Brown’s rainy day fund proposal called for filling a reserve fund with capital gains tax revenues that exceed a certain amount. Details of a deal reached Thursday, while sketchy as of this writing, would also set aside money based on capital gains. That would seem to be common sense, since capital gains revenues are […]
Questions About the Sharia Law Controversy
As the debate rages over Tim Donnelly’s accusation that Neel Kashkari supports Sharia law, I find myself deeply puzzled, overwhelmed really, by the questions. Like: What is Sharia law? Is it part of CEQA? Does Sharia law permit you to carry your gun on an airplane? But what’s Kashkari’s position on Jude Law?
Why the State General Fund Is Mad at You
It’s time for you to stop picking on me, California. For most of the past dozen years, I was badly in deficit. I heard all the talk—about how my shortfalls were hurting children and poor people, about how I was unmanageable, and about how my inadequacies were compromising the future and raising the prospect of […]