While political hopefuls across the Great Lakes region debate tax cuts and bicker about a wide ranging list of distractions from fundraising fraud to nursing home scandals, the talk in California - one state leading the nation into the knowledge economy - centers on making major investments for the state's future.
On November 7, 2006, Californians will head to the polls and decide the fate of five bond measures with a combined price tag of $42.7 billion. One proposal would pour $19.9 billion into new roads and modern mass transit; another would dedicate $2.8 billion to ensure good housing for low-income residents; another would provide $10.4 billion to modernize schools, universities, and career training centers; still two more measures would authorize $9.3 billion to clean up beaches, secure levees, and improve parks.
Sure California has a $1 trillion state economy, so comparisons with any individual Great Lakes state are problematic. The point is civic leaders in the Golden State have effectively framed a targeted list of priorities - transportation, education, housing, water, and green space - and proposed ways to actually pay for them. The proposals, if approved, will not only stregthen the state's economic competitiveness for the future. They will put people to work today on public works projects such as light rail expansion and the Napa River restoration, pictured above.
Considering the state of the regional economy, these are the types of substantive issues and discussions that should be informing the policy debate in the Great Lakes region.
