News

Believe it or not, the ride-sharing company Lyft is sponsoring an initiative that would have taxpayers finance its fleets. Masquerading as a measure to address climate change and forest fires through additional taxpayer financing of electric vehicles, charging stations and fire suppression, the measure would add 1.75 percentage points to the state income tax rate — ie, a 13 percent increase in the top tax rate, already at 13.3 percent — applied to incomes of over $2 million per year.

Last year, California dramatically increased fire suppression spending to $1.5 billion.

West Contra Costa County Unified School District has received a “lack of going concern” determination from its county board of education. That means the district is unable to meet its financial obligations. But 60 percent of its deficit is accounted for by spending on an unnecessary insurance subsidy for retired employees known as “OPEB” (Other Post-Employment Benefits) that drains classrooms of resources while federal subsidies go unused.

Among the 2,167 bills we are reviewing are several dealing with mental health and homelessness. Recently the Newsom Administration issued a proposal to establish CARE (Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment) Courts “to deliver behavioral health services to severely ill and vulnerable individuals while preserving self determination and community living.” Yesterday we joined a webinar about CARE and will be paying close attention going forward.

GFC President David Crane walks through the surprising statistics and lesser-known history behind California’s state government and how the public can help to elevate the quality of their state government.

More than 30 open-seat races for the state legislature will be contested this year. Some of you have asked about our process for considering pre-election endorsements.

Dear Legislators,

Few services are more important than medical services yet due to efforts by the politically-active doctors’ lobby to limit supply, Californians have not always been able to get immediate access to such services. Your passage of AB 890 (Wood) in 2020 was a big step towards improving that environment but more must be done. A good review is provided by this excellent article in The Atlantic, which details the “costly, lengthy credentialing system” unique to the United States. With reforms, we can have not only more doctors but also more medical practitioners in aggregate.

State legislators introduced nearly 1500 bills this week, bringing the total number of bills submitted this year to 2103. Here’s a small sample of measures proposed this week:

Three years ago, a California businessman/philanthropist who had spent $19 million to help elect charter-school-friendly state legislators asked me why so many of those he had helped to elect had joined in passing anti-charter legislation. I responded that they couldn’t count on him to be there for them. When it comes to political power, reliability beats wealth. Just ask former state official John Chiang, who during a recent forum said that politicians “make calculations about which interests will be there for them through thick and thin . . . cycle to cycle,” or former US Senator John Kerry, who once told me legislators favor interests who “are always there” for them.

USC Center for the Political Future (CPF) Co-Directors Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy were joined by former California State Treasurer John Chiang and former Gov. Schwarzenegger advisor David Crane to assess California’s governance and government services amid rising housing costs and tax rates, and the future of the Golden State on Wednesday, February 9. In partnership with Govern For California.