New America in California: Policy Papers

“Every man, and every body of men on earth, possesses the right of self-government…I am not among those who fear the people.”  --Thomas Jefferson “This representative assembly should be in miniature an exact portrait of the people at large.  It should think, feel, reason, and act like them.”  -- John Adams “The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.”  - Alexis… more

With California's fiscal woes mounting, and the government in Sacramento seemingly frozen in place, a constitutional convention has been proposed as a way to fix the Golden State's deeply entrenched structural problems.  But as more people have begun considering this option, several important questions have arisen about some of the details of the Convention, specifically:  1) how would the delegates to the Convention be chosen; 2) how would a Convention of delegates chosen by random selection function, and how would the delegates be educated;

San Jose uses a two-round runoff system to elect its mayor and city council, with the first election in June and a runoff election in November if no candidate wins a majority of votes in June. Voter turnout in the June general election is about half that of the November election, with turnout disproportionately lower among traditionally disenfranchised communities.  With most elections being decided in a low turnout June election, a small and unrepresentative segment of the community is having an oversized effect

To promote local economic development, California policymakers should create Banking Development Districts, a proven way to connect lower-income unbanked Californians with the financial products and services they need to enter the financial mainstream and begin to build savings and assets. It is modeled after New York State's successful Banking Development District program.

For the full text of the issue brief, please see the PDF attached below.

The California Employee Savings Program creates a voluntary, universal, portable retirement account for California workers who do not have access to a workplace retirement savings plan. It would give six million California workers and their families an opportunity to have their own workplace retirement savings plans to supplement their basic Social Security benefits. The California Employee Savings Program would also give hundreds of thousands of California small businesses an easy, low-cost, voluntary way to offer a retirement savings plan to their

The CA Workforce Mobility and Savings Initiative, reforms the asset limit in the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, to encourage low-income families to build the savings they need to permanently exit welfare. The measure repeals the $2,000 asset limit in CalWORKs for current recipients and raises it for new applicants from $2,000 to $7,000 while also eliminating the $4,650 vehicle limit. By reforming the asset limit, this measure restores the stated goal of the CalWORKs program by assisting families in achieving

The current economic downturn, triggered in part by excessive household debt and deflating housing prices, underscores the central role asset ownership plays in the economic security of California families and the broader economy.  Yet, half of all Americans currently have few or no assets, in part due to policies that encourage savings and wealth accumulation that benefit the upper half of earners.  The purpose of New America's Asset Building Program, is to significantly broaden savings and assets ownership in America,

California is a state of many distinct regions. To give citizens a voice on regional issues and to reinvigorate California's Legislature, the state's central institution of self-government, we propose Personalized Full Representation for the 21st Century (PFR21), a system of representation by means of regionally based legislative elections that will allow the state'scitizens to set the agenda for their regions and for the state as a whole.

Although the State of California currently offers its residents a 529 college savings plan through the ScholarShare program, the investment vehicle lacks incentives that encourage low- and middle-income individuals to participate in the program. Other U.S. states offer a variety of attractive incentives, such as matching contributions and state tax deductions. Californians are ready to adopt a stronger and more incentive oriented 529 plan that will encourage families to build savings for their children's college education. Postsecondary

The purpose of New America's Asset Building Program is to significantly broaden savings and assets ownership in America, thereby providing all Americans both with the means to get ahead and with a direct stake in the overall success of our economy. While pursuing an ambitious policy agenda at the federal level, we recognize that it is at the state level, in our nation's ‘laboratories of democracy', where the most innovative policies are often enacted.

In January 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled a comprehensive health care plan that aimed to provide quality, affordable health insurance to all Californians. Based on individual responsibility, the plan focused on prevention and wellness and emphasized a shared responsibility approach to financing.

After almost a year of negotiations between Governor Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislative leaders, compromise legislation with a framework and goals similar to the governor’s original proposal passed the State Assembly with a large majority. This compromise legislation, however,… more

In support of state-wide efforts to bring more Californians into the financial mainstream, the State of California could deliver a pre-paid account through the state’s tax filing process. The Assets and Transaction Account, or ATA, would expedite tax filers’ access to their tax refunds and serve as a safe, affordable, and convenient financial tool for lower-income Californians to conduct routine financial transactions and build saving throughout the year.

The state tax filing process presents a unique opportunity… more

In America’s fragmented health care system, too many individuals and families lack continuous access to health insurance. Overwhelming evidence shows that lacking health insurance leads to decreased access to quality care and reduces health status. The widely shared social and economic losses from these problems compound the cost of thousands of lives lost every year due to lack of health insurance and consequently access to care. In this context, health reform that ensures every individual and family seamless health insurance… more

Analysts largely agree that if you want everyone to have health insurance, you’re going to have to require it. “Individual mandates” to purchase health insurance would also help insurance markets work better than they do now, since insurers would then find it far easier to attract a balance of high and low risks if all had to buy something. Therefore they would need to do far less medical underwriting (risk evaluation) and targeted marketing, and that would lower the… more

Fear is a powerful force. Families fear the disappearance of affordable health insurance, employers fear international competition while financing high and rising health care costs at home, and providers fear that they will not be able to deliver needed care for lack of funding. In short, just about everyone fears that our system will fall apart. Instead of taking action, many politicians remain fearful of tackling health care reform, since it crushed the Clintons and others before them.

But hope… more

The report released today by the Hoover Institution confirms that insured families across California pay a "hidden tax" to provide uncompensated health care to the uninsured. The existence of this "hidden tax" is no longer in dispute; what's under debate is its magnitude, which is hard to measure precisely because it is "hidden."

This memo describes the range of estimates that various experts have made, highlights some of the reasons for differing judgments, and then lets the reader… more

Click here for a brief video discussion of this idea.

Americans want a more representative and responsive government capable of addressing the nation's challenges, yet our electoral system is founded on antiquated practices that inhibit voter choices and encourage a politics of polarization and paralysis. It's time to bring our electoral system into the 21st century by adopting instant runoff voting (IRV).

IRV elects… more

Click here for a brief video discussion of this idea.

Reducing the economic and environmental risks of excessive energy use must become one of America's most important national goals. The most promising way forward is to reduce energy demand by spurring a revolution in energy efficiency. Indeed, efficiency is America's largest and most cost-effective potential energy resource.

Phasing in tough new energy standards for… more

Health insurance is the primary method Californians use to access and pay for health care. However, millions of Californians have inadequate health insurance or lack coverage entirely. When care is needed, the first inclination for these families is to delay treatment that is too costly and then hope for the best. And when hope is not enough, these families are forced to seek treatment that they often cannot afford. When medical bills go unpaid, many health care providers shift the… more