Archive for February, 2011
A Public Pension Solution … From California?
Feb 27th
Last week, California’s Little Hoover Committee, which studies ways to improve California’s government, issued its recommendations for dealing with public employee pensions. The recommendations were nearly Scott Walker-esque in their scope, but we didn’t see California’s teachers and their comrades take to the street. Why? I explain why in this Daily Caller op/ed:
Unlike their brethren in Wisconsin, California’s teachers and their allies in other public employee unions haven’t been chanting and waving signs at the state capitol. After all, why should they? The very man who gave them collective bargaining rights in the first place is back in the governor’s office. The Democrats they funded and voted for have overwhelming majorities in the Senate and Assembly — and thanks to their funding of Proposition 25 last November, a mere simple majority will be needed to pass Jerry Brown’s budget, which doesn’t lay a finger on state employee pensions.
Why should the teachers care if their pension fund is “sliding down a steep slope towards insolvency?” in the words of the San Jose Mercury News (hardly a conservative mouthpiece). After all, it’s the taxpayers, not the teachers, who will have to pick up the tab for tens of thousands of comfy retirements from the classrooms when the fund can’t cover the costs. It is a matter of “when,” not “if,” because the teachers’ retirement fund portfolio’s value has plummeted by 25 percent, opening a $40.5 billion unfunded liability.
Why should they worry about coming elections, like the one last November in Wisconsin, which gave Scott Walker and his GOP buddies a mandate for real hope and change? Not a single Democrat seat was lost in Sacramento last time around and not a single Republican won a statewide office, despite the best efforts of Tea Party activists and pension watchdogs. The state remains unapologetically and defiantly blue — in fact, even though the state’s population has grown by 10 million since Ronald Reagan was president, there were more Republicans in the state to vote for him then than there are today.
Still, even in California, public employees have something to worry about and it’s called the Little Hoover Commission. Lucky for them there’s no Big Hoover Commission because the Little Hoover Commission is generating headaches enough for public employee union bosses.
Read the rest of the piece here.
Stop the Desecration of the 4th of July!
Feb 15th
There are sane people in the California Legislature. They’re just outnumbered. One of my favorite of the outnumbered and sane set is Diane Harkey (R, of course, 73rd), who has a keen nose for regulatory insanity. She’s just introduced AB 206, a bill that would exempt municipal fireworks shows from the heavy hand of the California Coastal Commission (and the California Environmental Quality Act, to boot).
This is a subject near and dear to Crazifornia’s heart – and the subject of much of my upcoming book’s chapter on the Coastal Commission – due to the plight of the good people of the North Coast town of Gualala (pictured), whose Fourth of July fireworks show was blasted out of existence by the Coastal Commission. Here are some posts you can check out for more on the story:
From Cheat-Seeking Missiles: Coastal Commission Attempting to Ban Fourth of July Fireworks
From The Daily Caller: The Queen of the Coastal Star Chamber
The bill is not yet posted on California’s LegInfo site, but it should be soon, and I’ll update this with a link when it does. A fact sheet on the bill summarizes the issue as:
Broad interpretation of environmental regulation law has defined fireworks as “development” which has expanded regulators authority to require permits or licenses in order to display fireworks. This interpretation has applied particularly to coastal communities. These regulations threaten the ability of local municipalities along the coast to provide this public service to both their communities and the state.
In order for Californian’s to celebrate the great independence of this country and continue with traditions that previous generations have enjoyed, it is necessary that the ability of public entities to put on such firework displays is protected.
These shows are a cultural event that are enjoyed by many Californians and also provide an economic benefit for the municipalities that display them.
Assemblywoman Harkey also sent me a sample support letter. Please help her in this important effort (which faces a bleak future in the Dem-dominated legislature) by getting folks in your neck of the woods to support it. Here’s the sample letter:
Dear Assemblywoman Harkey,
On behalf of the (INSERT NAME OF YOUR ORGANIZATION) I am writing to express support for Assembly Bill 206, which will provide an exemption for municipal firework shows from the California Environment Quality Act and California Coastal Act.
In 2008, the Gualala Festivals Committee received a cease-and-desist order from the California Coastal Commission for discharging fireworks without first receiving a coastal development permit. The Coastal Commission determined fireworks caused an increase in nest abandonment.
This action was confirmed by a court, setting a dangerous precedent in which “development” was deemed to encompass the discharging of fireworks as described in the California Coastal Act because the displays deposited spent materials into coastal waters.
Fireworks shows are an inexpensive way for families and the community to celebrate the independence of this country. Previous generations in California have enjoyed these shows without burden of a government agency standing in the way of a long celebrated tradition.
In addition, these shows provide an economic benefit for the municipalities that display them. As a coastal community this issue is especially significant to the citizens of (INSERT NAME OF YOUR CITY OR ORGANIZATION).
Environmental protection is important, but a line should be drawn to ensure the preservation of long held traditions that provide enjoyment, foster patriotism and stimulate our coastal economies.
(INSERT NAME OR ORGANIZATION) stands in support with AB 206 for the above mentioned reasons.
Sincerely,
CA Forward Offers Slate of Phony Fixes
Feb 15th
CalWatchdog picked up the op/ed I wrote after sitting disgustedly through two hours of dangerous ideas, mumbo-jumbo and government-speak from the reformers at California Forward – the folks who brought us the insane “budget with a 50% majority” and open primaries propositions. Here it is:
One of my daughters is an esthetician, and as she studied for her state certification so she could be sanctioned by Sacramento as worthy to give facials and wax eyebrows, she had to learn two completely separate and conflicting approaches to her chosen work. First, she learned how to give facials and wax eyebrows. Then she learned how to pass the California’s esthetician certification exam, which is based on practices no one uses anymore and maybe never did.
I thought of her experience on Friday afternoon as I found myself in a conference room with several other business people, trying as hard as we could to share our point of view about how to fix what ails California with two representatives of California Forward, the outfit that brought us open primaries and new state budgets on a simple majority vote. They’re cooking up some new reforms that made me so frustrated I could have ripped out my eyebrows – if I didn’t have a daughter who knew how to wax them. At the same time in Sacramento, a group of state employees was in another conference room with another group of California Forward representatives, sharing their perspective of the same topic. I have a feeling they had a much easier time of it.
The two meetings were part of California Forward’s current effort to gather input from all over the state so it can by synthesized into a new model for governing California, one that would fix things for good, with consensus support. Or, as the group puts it on its Web site, “We want a government that is small enough to listen, big enough to tackle real problems, smart enough to spend our money wisely, and honest enough to be held accountable for results.” Good luck with that – especially that last bit about honesty and accountability. After all, we live in the state that designed the California esthetician certificate examination.
Read the rest of the piece – and my proposed California reform measure – here.
Catching Up
Feb 5th
It’s been a busy week, so let me catch you up quickly with a couple of my op/eds – published here first – that have hit the big time.
The Daily Caller picked up “California’s public universities are the best. No really,” detailing Berkeley’s recent designation as the world’s (yes, the world’s) greenest college campus. The award was based more on sustainability practices than on its excellence in turning normal students into raving eco-warriors, but it’s all the same game, as the key paragaph of the piece points out:
Now don’t get me wrong. Green space is great and eco-sustainability policies are as cool as it comes. Whether there’s a looming eco-catastrophe or not (I think it’s “not”), nothing feels better than whipping out that re-usable grocery bag at Safeway. No, the problem with Berkeley’s newfound glory is that it’s the outgrowth of the deeper commitment to deep green brainwashing that goes on at UC campuses. If it weren’t for regents who have bought into environmentalist doctrine, a faculty that’s bought into environmentalist extremism, and a curriculum that ensures wave after wave of freshly minted environmentalist soldiers will graduate every spring and go into battle for Mother Earth, Berkeley would not be at the top of the green university rankings.
Read the rest here.
Also last week, California Watchdog ran “A clue to Governor Brown’s pension plan.” It relays an interesting last-minute appointment by Schwarzenegger: Cameron Percy to the California State Teachers’ Retirement System board of directors. What’s interesting is that Percy was one of the student authors of Stanford’s breakthrough study into California’s real pension liability, which they pegged at a deeply disturbing half-trillion dollars, so I explain why it’s suddenly the appointment to watch:
Percy’s nomination will give us a clear insight into Brown’s thoughts as he grapples with this dilemma. The appointment must be confirmed by the Dem-dominated Senate, but Percy may not even get that far, since Brown has the power to boot him and name his own appointee. How Brown acts on the appointment will tell California voters and public employee union bosses what they can expect from the new administration. It’s routine for incoming governors to replace the nominees of out-going governors, but there’s nothing at all routine about the Percy nomination.
Read the rest here. I really appreciate it when you click through. The more hits my op/eds get, the more it supports my efforts with Crazifornia.
