In Southern California, we need much better public schools, universal healthcare, public benefit programs and rent control and housing assistance. The State of CA should not put additional funding into prisons, juvenile facilities or law enforcement (that conducts racial profiling, widespread surveillance and assists ICE in detaining and deporting immigrants) Read more…
State government can help to bring about policies to encourage local government to partner with communities and businesses to address poverty in a comprehensive manner. All stakeholders should be at the table to give their perspectives and strategies. Cities, affordable housing developers, labor, health care, education, and community need to Read more…
It is no longer a republican talking point that people are fleeing this state. Middle class Californians are voting with their feet and calling it quits. Many states across the country are seeing droves of Californians move into their neighborhood. It has gotten so bad in Boise, Idaho that a Read more…
There are three things state legislators must do now to fight the poverty crisis in California. First, they need to pass legislation that streamlines the construction of affordable and supportive housing while reducing development costs. Second, they should provide additional or reallocate funding for mental health and wrap-around services for Read more…
California’s state government, and many of its local governments, particularly in its largest metropolitan areas, have largely failed to learn the lesson that economic freedom leads to economic prosperity – for all income brackets. While many have been able to generate a great deal of wealth in spite of California’s Read more…
The state government could increase the state EITC. The state should also consider providing a housing voucher to all households that are paying more than 50% of the income as rent to reduce the consequences of poverty. The state should provide more resources to enforce existing anti-discrimination legislation in the Read more…
Jobs lead people out of poverty, and California is chasing jobs and entrepreneurs out of our state every day with over regulation and excessive taxation. In my district, we are losing companies because of the high electricity costs in our state and the unpredictability of environmental regulations. These companies are Read more…
California’s voter-approved Proposition 47 has successfully reduced incarceration, already saved the state hundreds of millions of dollars and reallocated that money back into local communities to fund proven crime prevention programs. Using Prop. 47 savings, programs have been created in communities up and down the state that are helping address Read more…
State governments can allocate the monetary resources necessary to ensure that programs and services are set in place for all Californians to thrive. One major issue facing California’s poor is affordable housing, or in this case, unaffordable housing. In California, about half of very low-income renter households and about three-quarters Read more…
Given the role of employment in poverty alleviation, state government can incentivize employment by lessening the impact of the benefits cliff. After families’ employment income increases, state government can adopt a revenue neutral approach through earned income disregards or expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). EITC is one of Read more…
Our proximity to Mexico is a huge plus. We need to facilitate the comparative advantage of each economy in collaborating with the other. The maquiladora programs are but one example. The Inland Empire is one of the greatest trans-shipment hubs in the world; it should be available to Mexican products Read more…
Oddly, state government strategies seem to incentivize poverty: growing government and “free stuff” for residents while promoting by a thousand cuts the overregulation of small business (comprising 95% of the state’s economy), failure to fix systemic problems that result in lack of housing (CEQA, fees, regulations), burdensome public education regulations Read more…
To help reduce the poverty across Southern California, state government should continue investing in programs that work upstream in preparing our next generation for self-sufficiency including education, stable living environments for children and families, mental health, and job creation. Recognizing the serious need for increased housing stock to address the Read more…
Help pass School and Communities First initiative in 2020 to inject new investments in our schools. Continue to stay committed to wage increases and rent controls. Support equal pay for equal work and incentivize the hiring of companies that demonstrate their commitment to their workers through good wages and benefits. Read more…
The state government should get out of the way. Every policy that raises the cost of doing business in California is contributing to an increase in poverty.
Southern California’s intractable problems have been exacerbated by our inability to identify solutions that are multi-pronged and less siloed. A wholistic approach to what drives poverty in the first place, is an important factor in creating a comprehensive map of where resources should go, how to sustain these resources and Read more…
The state has to stop its climate jihad. There is no way we will be able to meet our housing and employment with the current regulatory regime. We can meet the Paris agreement levels without forcing up energy prices or adopting policies that other states will be slow to adopt. Read more…
Liberate markets, reform criminal justice, eliminate CEQA, reform the public-employee pension system, create real school choice with an emphasis on vocational training, make state legislature part-time, end corporate welfare by clamping down on violations of the state’s gift clause, insist on state control over federal lands in California (and make Read more…
State government can incentivize local governments to adopt policy changes that would lower the cost of housing so working people could afford the other necessities of life on their wages. Raising the minimum wage periodically is also important. ————————————- Additional thoughts State government is focusing on policies to encourage and Read more…