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Over the decade or so that I\u2019ve written about political issues in California, a recurring question has bothered me: Why is it that California\u2019s political leaders can\u2019t figure out how to have a progressive-leaning state while simultaneously not being stupid?<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what I mean: California is going to continue trending Democratic for years. It is what it is. They\u2019re going to pass Nanny State legislation targeting ketchup packets and babble woke nonsense all the time. It is what it is.<\/p>\n
But can\u2019t they walk and chew gum? Can\u2019t they manage a state that is both left-leaning and at the same time make sure the proverbial trains run on time?<\/p>\n
I would think it\u2019d be both to the benefit of the Democratic political establishment, who would have their worldview and governance validated, and the ordinary person, who would be paying high taxes but at least sort of get their money\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n
My threshold for competent governance is real simple here: not stupid. That\u2019s all I\u2019m looking for.<\/p>\n
For example, when they aren\u2019t busy finding the time to micromanage under what conditions a restaurant can hand out straws to customers, can\u2019t state officials figure out how to run a not-utterly-incompetent Employment Development Department?<\/p>\n
Can\u2019t California be progressive and all that but also not have EDD send tens of billions in fraudulent payments?<\/p>\n
This is the state of Silicon Valley; why are state officials incapable of leveraging the state\u2019s technological talent and capital to bringing state government into the 21st century?<\/p>\n
Is that too much to ask for?<\/p>\n
Bullet train<\/strong><\/p>\n They already screwed up on the high-speed rail project. Had they been able to hammer out the bullet train at the initial costs they were talking about, at a fraction of what it is today, on the timeline they initially outlined, that would\u2019ve been quite the achievement.<\/p>\n Despite any gripes one might still have about it, like whether those tens of billions would\u2019ve been better spent on the project versus other things, it would\u2019ve been an impressive achievement and a boon to mass transit advocates.<\/p>\n It would\u2019ve shown that progressive California could actually deliver a tangible thing, on time and at a reasonable cost. But almost everyone with any sense knows what we instead have is nothing short of disaster. The train is years behind schedule and at multiples of the original cost. Which is a shame. Like Jerry Brown, I like trains. I\u2019ve enjoyed the Alta Velocidad Espa\u00f1ola line in Spain several times and I like the idea of hopping on a train to San Francisco from Southern California so I don\u2019t have to worry about getting my car broken into or paying some ungodly amount for parking.<\/p>\n Now that it is where it is, why is it so hard for state leaders to just end it and figure out a better use of the tens of billions of dollars they would otherwise spend on the bullet train?<\/p>\n Marijuana<\/strong><\/p>\n California definitely did the right thing in legalizing marijuana. It was a win for progressives and libertarians alike. But it\u2019s been over five years since voters approved Proposition 64, which legalized marijuana, and the black market is still thriving.<\/p>\n It\u2019s no mystery why. California\u2019s tax and regulatory climate is making it hard for those willing to follow the law to do so. Onerous regulations have discouraged many growers and sellers from entering the legal market, while high taxes make buying legal marijuana significantly more expensive than just sticking with the good old-fashioned black market.<\/p>\n Former assemblyman and current state Attorney General Rob Bonta years ago proposed that California ease the tax burden on the legal marijuana market in order to help encourage more lawful market participation. That was exactly what the situation called for. Evidently, the idea made too much sense for Sacramento, it never got anywhere, and taxes remain as high as ever.<\/p>\n Education<\/strong><\/p>\n While state officials are busy imposing ethnic studies requirements on high schools, can\u2019t they also make sure that high schoolers can read, write and do math at grade level?<\/p>\n Consider that in 2019, just 51% of the state\u2019s students met California\u2019s standards in English Language Arts and just 40% met them in math. Meanwhile, low-income, Black, and Latino students \u2014 and especially Black and Latino students from low-income families \u2014 consistently lag even those abysmal results. And on top of that, California consistently lags most of the country in standardized test scores.<\/p>\n Perhaps state lawmakers could reflect for just a moment on the, to borrow a phrase, systemically racist outcomes of the K-12 system and introduce accountability measures to boot crummy teachers and reward talented teachers who deliver results. They may even want to heed polling from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California showing that Black (73%) and Latino (69%) Californians would support a school voucher system. Politicians would do that if they actually cared about poor, Black and Latino students. Big \u201cif,\u201d though.<\/p>\n If I\u2019ve learned anything about how the political machine in California works, it\u2019s that state officials and their bench of \u201cexperts\u201d will work real hard to make \u201cBIPOC\u201d and \u201cLatinx\u201d a thing because they\u2019re a bunch of hacks who derive their wisdom from Twitter, but they won\u2019t actually do what needs to be done to help such students if it stands in the way of a teachers union endorsement.<\/p>\n Hence, the mediocre K-12 system, crackdowns on charter schools and no talk of vouchers.<\/p>\n Housing<\/strong><\/p>\n While state officials are busy talking about the need for more housing construction, can\u2019t they, I don\u2019t know, make it easier and cheaper to build more housing by tweaking the California Environmental Quality Act and urging cities to scrap costly mandates on developers? Jerry Brown called CEQA reform \u201cthe Lord\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been in more editorial board meetings than I can count for years with Democratic members of the Assembly and state Senate across Southern California who all nod in agreement about the need to curb CEQA abuses but then do precisely nothing about it. What\u2019s the hold up? Do they really need a Sierra Club or trial lawyers group campaign contribution that badly?<\/p>\n Criminal justice<\/strong><\/p>\n While California has a Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, perhaps they can ensure the criminal justice system actually, I don\u2019t know, corrects and rehabilitates? Consider, for example, a January 2019 audit report with the revealing title, \u201cSeveral poor administrative practices have hindered reductions in recidivism and denied inmates access to in-prison rehabilitation programs.\u201d<\/p>\n Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature have been busy throwing hundreds of millions of dollars in raises and bonuses to the prison guards union as a political favor for opposing the recall (kudos to the handful of legislators like Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco for voting against doing so). Imagine, just imagine if they gave the prison guards\u2019 union half of what they gave them and devoted the rest of the hundreds of millions of dollars to rehabilitation and crime prevention. That would seem like a better, more sensible use of public funds. But maybe I\u2019m just insane for thinking better, more sensible uses of public funds is the goal here.<\/p>\n Energy<\/strong><\/p>\n While the state is busy fighting climate change, maybe it should not be closing down nuclear plants. If climate change is the existential threat people say it is, why let Diablo Canyon, which produces nearly 10% of the state\u2019s electricity, carbon-free, shut down? Wouldn\u2019t the vaguely intelligent thing be to keep it open? Wouldn\u2019t a smart thing be to make California a leader in next-generation nuclear power? I mean, if the French can get most of their electricity from nuclear, why can\u2019t we get some or even some more?<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve made it this far, bless you. You already know that for most or even all of these, they are likely to remain nothing more than hot air. There\u2019s no fairy tale ending to this. California will remain stuck with empty-headed sloganeering buffoons in most offices of government for the foreseeable future. At least they\u2019ve given me something to write about for so long.<\/p>\n