L.A. County’s Measure M would get the South Bay moving: Guest commentary

By Ben Allen and Amy Howorth POSTED: 10/21/16, 2:50 PM PDT As elected officials, our first obligation when assessing any piece of legislation is to ask, “What’s in it for my constituents?” That’s the test we applied to Measure M, the Los Angeles County Traffic Improvement Plan — and it passed. We’re voting yes on […]

L.A. County’s Measure M would get the South Bay moving: Guest commentary

POSTED: 10/21/16, 2:50 PM PDT As elected officials, our first obligation when assessing any piece of legislation is to ask, “What’s in it for my constituents?” That’s the test we applied to Measure M, the Los Angeles County Traffic Improvement Plan — and it passed. We’re voting yes on Measure M, and we urge everyone in […]

How to make technical education a game-changer for California’s young workers: Guest commentary

In June, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that will provide California’s community colleges with up to $200 million annually to expand career technical education programs. Named the Strong Workforce Program, this aims to encourage community colleges to “create new career pathways, increase faculty, strengthen curriculum and improve regional cooperation among colleges, businesses and other groups.” […]

Yes on Measure M Team Put On a Pretty Good Show!

Posted by GLORIA OHLAND August 31, 2016 At the launch of the Measure M campaign in honor of Labor Day and in front of Union Station in the blazing heat (climate change?), Tracy Hernandez of BizFed (the massive countywide alliance of 272,000 businesses) said it best: “This crazy cast of characters does not stand together all […]

Proposition 55: A Lesson in Not-So-Temporary Temporary Taxes

by Joel Fox Tuesday, August 30, 2016 Coming out of the Great Recession that ravaged the state budget, Governor Jerry Brown and the state’s teachers’ unions joined forces to successfully push Proposition 30, a 2012 ballot initiative labeled, “Temporary Taxes to Fund Education.” Yet, despite a General Fund that grew 42 percent since Governor Brown became […]

Brown’s housing hypocrisy

Opinion By Joel Kotkin and Wendell Cox Sunday, August 28, 2016 Jerry Brown worrying about the California housing crisis is akin to the French policeman played by Claude Rains in “Casablanca” being “shocked, shocked” about gambling at the bar where he himself collects his winnings. Brown has long been at the forefront on drafting and […]

Don’t pollute air board with state appointees

By The Editorial Board, LA Daily News POSTED: 08/22/16, 4:19 PM PDT When Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts, seen as a swing vote on the court, shifted his allegiance and rendered the deciding vote to uphold the constitutionality of a state minimum wage law in the court’s 1937 West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish decision, […]

Why some business groups are supporting a $2-per-pack tax hike on cigarettes

Alan Young, Staff Writer Sacramento Business Journal August 22, 2016 Two large business organizations in San Francisco and Los Angeles are backing a tax measure that will appear on the November ballot that would hike the cost of cigarettes by $2 a pack. Their endorsements may not make a difference, however, as tobacco companies and […]