Experts Expound: Halloween

Halloween is upon us so with that in mind tell us what you think was the scariest thing you saw come out of the Legislature or governor’s office this year? 

“The scariest thing coming out of the Legislature is always the sheer number of bills they introduce and pump out every session. Wasn’t it Jerry Brown who once asked, “Are there really 3,000 things every year in California that are subject to a legislative solution?”

“All the last min Gov appointments to commissions and agencies of staff and friends that will linger on after he’s gone.”

“Governor proposal to protect electric utility shareholders by making fire victims eat the costs of fires caused by electric utilities.”

“The Governor’s press office acting as an agent of the Newsom for President campaign was a scary thing to watch.  We have bad precedents being set in Washington and Sacramento on where the line is between governing and campaigning.”

“65% of the bills introduced.”

“The scariest thing to come out of the legislature is Ashley Zavala and Julie Watts running toward you with a camera!”

“Can we add “the ballot” to the question? Because by far the scariest things I have seen is the incredibly ill-conceived special interest driven billionaire’s tax and the even more problematic responses to it. There is a reasonable likelihood that to avoid some bizzaro budgeting that shouldn’t even have made the ballot box, we’re going to unintentionally hamstring California’s ability to raise revenue going forward by passing one or both of the killer initiatives. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that billionaires should exist. After you hit $100 million, you should be given a certificate saying you’ve won capitalism that you can hang on your wall with the rest of the money going to the state. But this way of dealing with wealth inequality ain’t it. Almost a false flag level of stupidity in process and policy.”

“For me, it was the anemic response to new regulations from CARB that direct “Cap and Invest” funds away from transit and affordable housing/Transit Oriented Development (TOD). The new CARB regs pull roughly $3 billion a year away from programs that support Transit and TOD and the Legislature’s attempt to backfill in budget trailer bills fell short by about $2 billion. Transit systems all over the state that are already feeling the loss of federal funding for both capital projects and O&M have to absorb yet another loss. The fiscal cliff is looming for almost every transit agency in the state, and many are looking at reducing routes and closing stations–all while record setting gasoline prices mean fewer people can afford to drive to work, school, medical appointments etc. This was done in the name of ‘affordability’ but it’s robbing Peter to pay Paul, and not really making life in the Golden State any more affordable for anyone.

“Gavin Newsom leaving the next governor $29 billion in internal budget borrowing to repay and slashing Medi-Cal asset limits from $130,000 to $21,000 for individuals and from $195,000 to $31,000 for couples, forcing responsible seniors and people with disabilities to spend down their savings just to keep their healthcare.”

“Their failure to meet the moment in addressing the catastrophic wealth gap.”

“Sometimes it is the simple stuff that didn’t come off of Appropriations that should have.”

“The scariest Halloween costume this year was a venture capitalist dressed up as a city planner undermining the will of the voters with the support of the governor’s office and a “who’s who” list of politicos on the payroll.”

“The scariest thing for me, as a strategist, is the lack for thought from the Legislature on how many bonds and other issues they put on the Nov ballot.  Not the first time the selfish need to put on their own issues, with total disregard to polling or how their moves impact the rest of the ballot what else is already qualified. They made the ballot too long and complicated and could care less.”

“The scariest thing to come out of Sacramento was Newsom’s utility bailout to help shield Edison and PG&E’s shareholders that would have likely raised already sky-high insurance premiums.”

Our panel of experts: Elizabeth Ashford, Hector Barajas, A.G. Block, Barry Brokaw, Samantha Corbin, Jon Costantino, Richard Costigan, Gregg Fishman, Tim Foster, Rex Frazier, Mariel Garza, John Howard, Fiona Hutton, Gale Kaufman, Steven Maviglio, Mike MeCey, Paul Mitchell, Jack Ohman, Kassy Perry, Matt Rexroad, Garry South, Paula Treat, Micah Weinberg, Bill Wong, Daniel Zingale