Back during the depths of this economic mess, I wrote a piece here advocating legalizing and taxing marijuana as an answer to California’s unbalanced budget nightmare. Since then, my arguments have appeared too many places to count and much has occurred to what they used to call ‘Sin Taxes,’ as a route to getting our states back in the black.

If marijuana were simply legalized in California, and taxed at $50 per ounce, let’s say 10% of retail price (give or take), it would add $1 Billion per year to California’s budget – I didn’t make that up; that’s what a recent study has concluded. We don’t have the luxury of ignoring this any more.
The time and scarce resources of our court system, law enforcement, and prison system are all hugely consumed and negatively affected by keeping marijuana technically illegal in California. I say ‘technically illegal,’ because the medical marijuana legislative scheme has worked well in this state since it was enacted in the mid-90’s and it has spawned some 12 or 13 other states’ schemes, all working fairly well in these days when nothing associated with government (or finance) seems to work well, or at all for that matter.

Last week, German-based SMA Solar Technology announced it would open a manufacturing facility in Colorado, spend approximately $22 million on it’s first non-European site, and hire 300 to 700 Denver workers starting in 2010.  It should be noted that Colorado is listed among the top five states to do business according to Forbes magazine and CNBC.

It was rumored that many states were in the running for SMA — a company that makes components that integrate residential solar panels with electrical grids.  For a state with a “Million solar roofs” policy, I’d like to know what California did to court this company.   Why didn’t they receive the same treatment as Tesla motors with a sales tax exemption on capital equipment or something similar to attract their impressive operation?

Colorado has now landed at least 300 high paying manufacturing jobs that will contribute to its growth and emergence from the national recession, while California continues to pass environmental policies on the notion — not economic analysis or proof — that the environmental frontier exclusively creates jobs and helps the economy. 

The California Teachers Association has filed two split roll initiatives according to reliable sources. A split roll would change Proposition 13 to tax business property differently than residential property.

Moving ahead with either measure will trigger a costly battle — public employee unions versus the business community and taxpayer groups.

In response to the filings, oppnents of a split roll will take steps to set up an oppostion campaign.

More to come.

Not since 1984 have we passed this barrier, one many thought we would never see again. 10.2% unemployment means one in five American families have somebody out of work; real numbers of people unemployment may be nearing 20% without using all the statistical gimmicky used to keep the percentage as low as it is.

The Christmas year-end holiday season is virtually upon us. No sooner than we will wash our Thanksgiving dinner dishes than the Christmas songs will again dominate our media and the shopping bargains will dominate our retail industry. The retail industry which shudders to see what 10.2% unemployment means for year-end holiday shopping. Some five million Americans without jobs, maybe many more who have fallen off the far end of the statistical body count, will not be shopping at the local malls this year and will be hoping that they can pay rent, mortgages and for their family’s food.

This is big for next year’s off-year elections across the board. Incumbents are already watching their backs after the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections, and after Mayor Bloomberg won another term in the Big Apple, spending something like nearly a couple of hundred dollars per voter to squeak by his challenger for a too close for comfort, re-election victory.

It’s sad to hear reports that, despite the huge popular groundswell behind my bid to be appointed lieutenant governor, Abel Maldonado may be the governor’s choice. Before any final decisions are made, I urge you to read my argument for myself in today’s Los Angeles Times. That story is here.

Here’s one issue I didn’t raise in the piece: It’s important that I be appointed and confirmed quickly. If the governor and the senate delay, I could lose $29,000.

Here’s why. The California Citizens Compensation Commission has mandated 18 percent cuts in the salaries of elected officials, but those cuts do not go into effect until Dec. 7.

So, if my term as lieutenant begins on or before Dec. 6, my salary will be the current higher number, $159,134. If I’m not confirmed until Dec. 7 or later, my salary will be only $130,490.

In the movie “Groundhog Day,” the lead character relives the same day over and over until he finally gets it right. When he realizes that the day has finally changed he says, “Something is… different.” “Good or bad?” he is asked. “Anything different is good.”

Today California has graduated from its endless loop of just discussing our water problem to actually taking action to solve our water problem. Today is different, today is good. Today marks a historical day for California as the State Legislature and the Governor came to resolution on a critically needed comprehensive water package – they are all to be applauded and congratulated for their hard work and efforts.

Is it a perfect package? No, but very little in this life is perfect and while we can quibble over certain aspects of certain bills, we do know that a comprehensive, balanced water solution was the only way a deal would get done. Not just because California’s environmental resources are at risk – but its very economic foundation as well.

When most people think about where their tax dollars go, they think of schools, parks, public safety and other social service programs. It never occurs to them that some of their hard-earned dollars are paying litigation costs. This is because most of the time the cases against cities, counties and the state are dealt with behind closed doors, shielded from public scrutiny.

In 2007 California CALA shed a little light on these hidden expenses and found that just three cities and four counties in California paid more than $276 million in verdicts, settlements and outside counsel in just two fiscal years. These costs did not even include litigation against school districts.

CALA just released a new report and the findings are staggering. CALA looked at verdicts, settlements and outside counsel for the counties of Alameda, Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange , Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and Santa Clara and the cities of Anaheim, Bakersfield, Fresno, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego and San Jose. Of these nine counties and eight cities more than $500 million dollars was spent to deal with litigation. Half a billion dollars! And we have 480 cities and 58 counties in the state. The total cost to our cities and counties would be mind-boggling.

The California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility filed with the Attorney General’s office two pension and retiree health care initiatives that would save state and local government agencies hundreds of billions of dollars in retiree benefit costs. Either measure would end the expensive abuses which have increased costs and run up huge deficits for public defined benefit pension plans.

The initiatives are identical except for the voter requirement that allows agencies to increase benefits for new workers. We plan to poll voters to determine which version they prefer.

With more than $200 billion in retirement debts and skyrocketing costs crowding out the investments we need in education, health care, transportation, public safety and the environment, it is time for a statewide solution to our retirement benefits crisis. By requiring all new non-safety public employees at all levels of government to work until their Social Security retirement age for full benefits and ending the politicians’ raids and abuses of public pension funds, California public agencies can offer secure retirement benefits that are fair for taxpayers and their employees.

Ending years and years of negotiations, countless start and stop efforts, and some of the longest most bitter committee hearings in the Capitol, today’s early morning light saw the California State Legislature finally come to agreement on a package of bills that contain sweeping changes in water policy and an $11 billion bond that must be approved by voters. Reaching resolution on a measure to fix our current system that was designed for 15million Californians so that it will meet the demands of the soon to be 50 million Californians while increasing storage and protecting the delta had proven in the past to be too great a load to lift – but this time it finally came to fruition.

Not wasting any time the Governor and legislative leaders held a press conference only hours after the package of bills were passed. Quick to point out that the legislature finally had reached a resolution of a critical issue the message was clear – all major interests were at the table – environmental, business, labor, agriculture, and water providers – sending a message that the voters of California need to ratify this effort at the polls. The bond package will create tens of thousands of jobs and protects hundreds of thousands more. Now comes the heavy lifting, passing the bond that is needed to fund the storage and conveyance pieces of this package that will assure water supply and delivery. The bond will be on the ballot in November of 2010.