Key Issues: Governance

Governance issues in the State of California impact the business climate and the quality and availability of state and local services. This fact was highlighted by California’s budget crisis, and by subsequent debates surrounding government performance and accountability. As a public-private partnership, the Bay Area Council Economic Institute is committed to working with state and local leaders to propose and support changes to California’s government processes that will improve efficiency, productivity and transparency. The Economic Institute and its partners are committed to a sustained, long-term effort, including policy research, review of reform proposals and the development of new initiatives, public education and advocacy.

California Budget and Tax Initiative, February 2004

• Statement of Principles
  –February 2004 (PDF: 10 pages, 57 KB)*

The California Budget and Tax Reform Initiative, led by Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network and the Bay Area Economic Forum, grew out of strong sentiment coming from labor, business, education, local government, and the community about the crucial role the state plays in our efforts safeguarding this region’s economic environment. The goal is to reach out to organizations throughout California, and work in partnership with state officials to rebuild California’s fiscal foundation—ensuring long-term investments in education, infrastructure, people, and the quality of living.

New California Network

This initiative led in 2006 to the creation of a new statewide organization, New California Network (NCN), to focus exclusively on issues relating to fiscal reform, performance and accountability in state government. Jim Mayer, who previously served as Executive Director of the Little Hoover Commission in Sacramento, became its first executive director. In 2006 and 2007, NCN produced a number of seminal analyses of state budget issues including:

• In Search of Fiscal Responsibility: An Analysis of State Fiscal Choices
  –Summer 2006 (PDF: 20 pages, 2.9 MB)*
• Changing the Order of Things: Building a Better Budget for California State Government
  –Summer 2007, Version 1.4 (PDF: 54 pages, 3.2 MB)*
• Changing the Order of Things: Budget Reform in Other States - Lessons for California
  –Fall 2007 (PDF: 58 pages, 2.4 MB)*

California Forward

NCN’s success in bringing attention to these issues, and the pressing but unresolved fiscal challenges facing the State, led to the subsequent creation in 2008 of California Foreard, an expanded organization that incorporates and builds on NCN’s work, with multi-year support from a partnership of major California foundations. Jim Mayer now serves as its executive director.

Information on California Forward can be accessed through its website at www.caforward.org

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