Experts Expound

“In the wake of the infrastructure bonds, the Legislature now gets back to
the business of working on legislation. What are the most important bills
facing the Legislature this year?”

It’s times like these that you pray for gridlock in Sacramento. The most
important legislation is killed in committee, California voters are all
better-off with as few laws passing as possible.

The infrastructure bonds may have failed to reach the June ballot, but
issues related to infrastructure are likely to continue to dominate
legislative discussion in the months ahead. Other key issues will include
redistricting, expanding health coverage for children, pre-school programs,
protection of Proposition 42 funds, and Patty Berg’s assisted suicide bill.
The recent activism on immigration is also likely to give a higher profile
to legislation related to that issue

Redistricting, levees, roads, clean air, water storage, transportation
issues and retrofitting old rotting roads, etc. They might also want to
really vote on open primaries. Boy, am I a dreamer today.

Issues like eminent domain and assisted suicide might get a lot of media
attention, but the capitol isn’t going to have time for anything else in an
election year.

If the Legislature took the year off, I’m not sure the world would notice.
Given that it’s an election year, it’s hard to see anything meaningful or
controversial being accomplished.

The budget and related trailer bills are the whole enchilada. Minimum wage,
gay marriage, and drivers’ licenses for illegals will attract attention but
politically and policy-wise it’s all about the big bucks of the state
budget.

The people from whom we sought opinions: Andrew Acosta, A.G. Block, Don
Wilcox, Jon Fleischman, Evan Goldberg, Deborah Gonzalez, Dan Schnur, Jason
Kinney, Tom Kise, Karen Hanretty, Kevin Spillane, Michael Houston, Matt
Ross, Sam Delson, Mike Madrid, Morgan Crinklaw, Dave Lesher, Richard Zeiger,
Ralph Simoni, Adam Mendelsohn, Scott Baugh, Steve Maviglio, Tony Quinn,
Peter DeMarco, Adam Probolsky, Barbara O’Connor, Jack Pitney.