Crippling the Initiative Process by Jacking Up Filing Fees
No one should be fooled — the Assembly bill passed to raise the filing fee for an initiative proposal to $8000 is an attempt to squash the initiative process. The argument that the fee has not been raised in over seventy years rings hollow when any on-line inflation calculator will tell you that inflation over […]
Q&A with Allan Hoffenblum on the California Target Book
(Editor’s Note: For twenty years, The California Target Book has been the authoritative go-to guide for all interested in California elective politics. The Target Book contains detailed analysis of candidates, their supporters and background for each Assembly, State Senate and Congressional race in the state. To learn more about the workings of the California Target Book, […]
The Medi-Cal Mess
California’s health program for the poor and disabled, Medi-Cal, has presented state lawmakers with quite a perplexing paradox. More and more people fall under the protection of Medi-Cal and need a doctor but fewer and fewer doctors are accepting the low fees associated with the program. While a simple solution may appear to be increasing […]
All that Analysis of the Glazer Victory
According to the Democratic Party analysis of Steve Glazer’s victory in Senate District 7, Glazer ran a “cynical” campaign appealing to Republicans and, “We know that low turnout elections favor Republicans. When Democratic voters show up and vote, Democrats win.” I suppose one way to interpret that analysis is that those who only pay attention […]
How Will Business React to L.A. Minimum Wage Boost?
The Los Angeles City Council tentatively voted to increase the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020. The business community opposed the move. How business will react is unclear but there was much discussion during the debate over the issue about lost jobs and eyeing more friendly business locations. The wage increase is […]
Dick Mountjoy and the “Bob’s Big Boy Poll”
Former legislator Dick Mountjoy was a “Prop 13 baby,” a strong supporter of the measure when elected to the assembly for the first time the year when the Proposition 13 property tax reform was on the ballot. During his campaign for his first office he heard all the official opposition to the measure from the […]
Steve Glazer’s Moment – and California’s
Whether by choice or not, Steve Glazer, candidate for the Senate District 7 seat in tomorrow’s special election, is a symbol of change. His election could alter the face of California politics from the expected — Democratic candidates following in lock step with the party’s strongest influencers and financial backers — to electing more independent […]
Education Spending and Student Academic Achievement Results
Much attention is placed on California’s relative rank with respect to our education spending, and unfortunately, much of it based on old and incomplete data. Proponents of changing Proposition 13 often site old National Education Association (NEA) statistics that ranked California 46th in the nation on education spending. Even if one is willing to accept […]
It’s Not About Fairness, It’s About More Tax Money
The campaign to change Proposition 13 by the self-styled “Make it Fair” coalition is not about fairness, it is all about more tax money. The coalition claims business gets tax breaks under the current property tax system. Their favorite example to point to was a deal over a Santa Monica hotel purchase that was engineered […]
Unwarranted Influence of Education Establishment Blunts Reforms
In hearing that a number of common sense education reforms were turned away by the majority Democrats in the Assembly Education Committee last week I couldn’t help think of the famous line from President Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell address. Yes, quite a leap from a California assembly committee vote and Eisenhower’s call to be wary of […]