Kerry Jackson
Blog
The Train That’s Still Going Nowhere
The Legislative Analyst’s Office recently issued its Review of the Draft 2020 High-Speed Rail Business Plan. It’s not a ringing endorsement of the project. Three of the report’s five key oversight issues confirm what’s been known all along. California’s bullet train is a troubled enterprise. First, says the LAO, “we ...
Blog
California Assembly Bill 5: An Update
Nearly three dozen bills intended to revise or repeal Assembly Bill 5, which restricts workers’ freedom and could potentially kill the burgeoning gig economy, have been introduced in Sacramento. Here is some of the latest, and most important, news about efforts to smooth over the malign effects of the law: ...
California
Celebrating the Return of the Primitive
Private automobiles are no longer allowed on Market Street in San Francisco, California. The result has been an increase in bike ridership. This is, of course, being hailed as progress. So why does it look like the city is resetting the clock to a previous century? When novelist Ayn Rand ...
Blog
Forced to Ride Those Dirty BART Trains
It’s not uncommon to find people who think San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities, if not the most beautiful city, in the world. Neither would it be shocking to learn that people are finding it to be one of the most unlivable cities in the world. The ...
California
What Gives California The Right to Force Businesses to Accept Cash?
Does government have any limits on the restrictions it can place on a private company? Or are those limits confined only by the outcome of legislators’ votes? These are questions some California lawmakers might find themselves wrestling with this year. A bill introduced in the Senate in early February might ...
California
How State Policy Makers Can Avoid It Becoming Siligone Valley
As unlikely as it seems, we could see in our lifetimes the decline of Silicon Valley, maybe the most dynamic economic and innovation machine man has ever known. Can it be avoided? Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckerberg, who’s earned Silicon Valley’s grandest fortune, said at last month’s 2020 Silicon Slopes Tech ...
Blog
The California High-Cost Rail
The projected cost of the California bullet train has whipsawed up and down like share prices in a volatile market. The latest forecast adds $1.3 billion to the estimated price tag. Now at $80.3 billion, it’s a long way from its humble beginnings of $33 billion, the amount voters approved ...
Blog
Assembly Bill 5: Is The Worst Yet To Come?
At what point did the lawmakers who voted for, and the governor who signed, California Assembly Bill 5 realize it’s lousy policy? It should have been the moment the idea was first conceived. But that didn’t happen, the legislation became law, and now it’s being implicitly admitted that it’s a ...
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: Will California’s Ban on Freelance Work Lead to Blue State Turnaround?
The backlash over California’s Assembly Bill 5, legislation that robs workers of their freedom, was likely not expected by lawmakers. They’re accustomed to an electorate that agreeably goes along with whatever policies they impose, no matter how invasive. The response to AB5, which outlaws, with a few exceptions, freelance and ...
California
The Warm California Sun Needs to Shine in The Dark Corners of Government Operations
Gov. Gavin Newsom promised greater transparency in California government. Jerry Brown was elected secretary of state 50 years ago on a transparency platform. While serving one of his terms in what nearly turned out to be a “governor-for-life” political career, Brown said he was “committed to keeping state government open ...
The Train That’s Still Going Nowhere
The Legislative Analyst’s Office recently issued its Review of the Draft 2020 High-Speed Rail Business Plan. It’s not a ringing endorsement of the project. Three of the report’s five key oversight issues confirm what’s been known all along. California’s bullet train is a troubled enterprise. First, says the LAO, “we ...
California Assembly Bill 5: An Update
Nearly three dozen bills intended to revise or repeal Assembly Bill 5, which restricts workers’ freedom and could potentially kill the burgeoning gig economy, have been introduced in Sacramento. Here is some of the latest, and most important, news about efforts to smooth over the malign effects of the law: ...
Celebrating the Return of the Primitive
Private automobiles are no longer allowed on Market Street in San Francisco, California. The result has been an increase in bike ridership. This is, of course, being hailed as progress. So why does it look like the city is resetting the clock to a previous century? When novelist Ayn Rand ...
Forced to Ride Those Dirty BART Trains
It’s not uncommon to find people who think San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities, if not the most beautiful city, in the world. Neither would it be shocking to learn that people are finding it to be one of the most unlivable cities in the world. The ...
What Gives California The Right to Force Businesses to Accept Cash?
Does government have any limits on the restrictions it can place on a private company? Or are those limits confined only by the outcome of legislators’ votes? These are questions some California lawmakers might find themselves wrestling with this year. A bill introduced in the Senate in early February might ...
How State Policy Makers Can Avoid It Becoming Siligone Valley
As unlikely as it seems, we could see in our lifetimes the decline of Silicon Valley, maybe the most dynamic economic and innovation machine man has ever known. Can it be avoided? Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckerberg, who’s earned Silicon Valley’s grandest fortune, said at last month’s 2020 Silicon Slopes Tech ...
The California High-Cost Rail
The projected cost of the California bullet train has whipsawed up and down like share prices in a volatile market. The latest forecast adds $1.3 billion to the estimated price tag. Now at $80.3 billion, it’s a long way from its humble beginnings of $33 billion, the amount voters approved ...
Assembly Bill 5: Is The Worst Yet To Come?
At what point did the lawmakers who voted for, and the governor who signed, California Assembly Bill 5 realize it’s lousy policy? It should have been the moment the idea was first conceived. But that didn’t happen, the legislation became law, and now it’s being implicitly admitted that it’s a ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: Will California’s Ban on Freelance Work Lead to Blue State Turnaround?
The backlash over California’s Assembly Bill 5, legislation that robs workers of their freedom, was likely not expected by lawmakers. They’re accustomed to an electorate that agreeably goes along with whatever policies they impose, no matter how invasive. The response to AB5, which outlaws, with a few exceptions, freelance and ...
The Warm California Sun Needs to Shine in The Dark Corners of Government Operations
Gov. Gavin Newsom promised greater transparency in California government. Jerry Brown was elected secretary of state 50 years ago on a transparency platform. While serving one of his terms in what nearly turned out to be a “governor-for-life” political career, Brown said he was “committed to keeping state government open ...
