Inland Empire Progressive

A Progressive Critical-Thinkers guide to Props and Measures: Prop. 30 - Yes Avoids cuts from K thru 16 and allows breathing room to stabilize the budget. Prop 31 - No Poison Pill. Lots of Progressive Reforms but brings state government instability at a time when state is trying to balance budget. Prop 32 - No Limits political speech of working class families. Prop 33 - No Penalizes poor and working class families who are less like to have continuous insurance coverage. Prop 34 - Yes Saves state $100M annually by eliminating death penalty. Prop 35 - No Hampers law enforcement in dealing with sex trafficking. Prop 36 - Yes Reduces costs. Reduces 2nd Strike Dementia, where minor offenders will escalate small violations because they have nothing to lose. Prop 37-  Yes We have a right to know what is being done to our food. Prop 38- No Funds only K-12. Cuts to education still happen because Prop. 30 failed. Prop 39- Yes Creates jobs inside Califo...

This Proposition has many things that I like to see in a good Progressive governmental structure: Two-Year Budget cycle. CHECK Permits Governor to cut budget unilaterally during fiscal emergencies if Legislature can't get its shit together. CHECK Requires performance reviews of all state programs. CHECK Requires performance goals in state and local budgets. CHECK Requires publication of bills 3 days prior to legislative vote. CHECK However, Prop. 31 is a poison pill. This measure will create policy uncertainty during these already uncertain times. I do like the shift to a more local control approach provides but the costs to the state budget are just to large to justify at this time. In addition, we are not sure that all the local governmental agencies can coordinate services in a way that benefits thier residents. I can foresee funding battles across all levels of local government further eroding the sacred trust between citizens and their government. Furthermore, hams...

I despise ballot box budgeting, however since I will be personally affected (Cal State Student) if this prop fails I am compelled to vote for it. I was 49% in favor of not voting for it. The primary reason is becasue they cut funding for the Ralph M. Brown Act. I am afraid local governments will use the cut as an excuse to reduce transparency even though we live in the digital age and costs for posting agendas, budgets, etc. online are minimal. However, this gives them some political cover. The bulk of the reductions will be from schools, which would make sense on its face education make up the majority of the General Fund budget. But Prop. 30 still feels like a hostage negotiation that if doesn't pass we will cut funding to children and young adults. If Prop. 30 does pass, Democrats in the legislature need to seriously gather the intestinal fortitude necessary to bring about a stablized and ...