The Crush.February2021 - 4

STATE FOCUS

Problem Solving Lawmakers
By Michael Miiller
For me, one of the most interesting commercials during Super
Bowl LV was the two-minute ad featuring Bruce Springsteen
- titled " The ReUnited States of America. " Springsteen had
artistic control of the piece, which at the end was revealed to be
a commercial for Jeep. Full disclosure: I am a fan of the E Street
Band and have seen a few of the band's exhilarating concerts.
Springsteen's Super Bowl LV attempt to bring people together
was not widely embraced. Some on the right condemned the
piece as hypocritical, as Springsteen, an avid critic of former
President Trump, was now calling for unity. Some on the left
criticized the commercial saying Springsteen sold out - " The
Boss " is now " The Man. "
That partisan response to the commercial from both sides
underscores a national political divide which has created
problems in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento. For example,
in the California Legislature, Democrats have a super majority
control of the Senate and the Assembly. Consequently, many
Democrat lawmakers don't see the need to fix their legislation if
they have secured sufficient votes to move their bill through the
process.
Conversely, many Republican lawmakers have become flame
throwers. This is because they are so few in numbers that many
Democrat lawmakers don't even attempt to resolve Republican
concerns. Moderate Democrats are often silenced as well.
While there are exceptions to these generalizations, both sides
frequently play to their base, resulting in poor public policy
development. In 2020, we saw the sad reality of that form of
lawmaking as California businesses are now required to function
as the social safety net for the global pandemic.
Several laws and regulations approved in 2020 created incredible
burdens on businesses by assuming any Californian contracting
COVID-19 must have been infected at work. Some of these
mandates also determine that an employer has an " outbreak "
even when the percentage of COVID-19 cases in that workplace
is lower than the percentage of cases in the community.
In past emergencies and disasters, lawmakers realized that
tragic situations affect all of us and approached legislation
and regulations with this reality in the front of their minds.
Lawmakers in the past tried to address the broad consequences
of an emergency for all of us, not just for some, while also being
mindful not to hold people responsible for things beyond their
control.

4 FEBRUARY 2021

However, today we have a
Legislature and state government
with a deep chasm divide
between far-left Democrats on the
supermajority side and moderate
Democrats and Republicans on the
other. This means far-left Democrats
often openly allow the content
and fate of their legislation to be
determined by special interests on
the left.
To address this, a group of 10 California lawmakers have formed
what they refer to as " the California Problem Solvers Caucus - a
bicameral (Senate and Assembly) and party-agnostic (Democrats,
Republicans and Independents) group dedicated to finding
solutions and creating results. "
In stating the need for the caucus, the legislators stated, " We are
a group of elected leaders who arrived at the same conclusion:
Government too often does not work for the people we
represent. "
The caucus consists of the following lawmakers:
Assemblymembers: Jordan
Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo),
Adam Gray (D-Ceres), Tom Lackey
(R-Lancaster), Chad Mayes (I-Yucca
Valley), Cottie Petrie-Norris
(D-Laguna Beach) and Suzette
Valladares (R-Santa Clarita).
Senators: Melissa Hurtado
(D-Sanger) and Josh Newman
(D-Orange County).

CALIFORNIA
PROBLEM
SOLVERS
CAUCUS

These senators and assemblymembers assert, " Instead of being
dedicated to protecting the lives and livelihoods of our 40
million residents and delivering real results for working families,
politicians today often seem more interested in ideological
maneuvering, bolstering Twitter followers, or smearing the
other side...Differing political opinions are no longer just an
uncomfortable topic we avoid at holiday gatherings. They have
become so poisonous that they are ripping our families and our
country apart. "
Let's hope the problem solvers can shake things up a bit in
Sacramento. Perhaps an inspiring Clarence Clemons saxophone
solo is just what we all need right now.
https://www.ign.com/videos/jeep-super-bowl-55-commercial-the-middle-ft-bruce-springsteen https://www.calmatters.org/commentary/my-turn/2021/02/we-intend-to-change-government-and-make-it-work-for-you/ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bruce-springsteens-eulogy-for-clarence-clemons-62867/
The Crush.February2021

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