Government Reform

This past Friday, the Bay Area Council announced it was suspending its efforts for two November ballot initiatives calling for a Constitutional Convention. The reason was straightforward – in this economy, the funds necessary to qualify the measures for the ballot were too difficult to develop.

While I have previously expressed my concerns about the Convention concept, it is vitally important that the leaders at the Bay Area Council not lose heart on their goal – which is to enact major budget and governance reforms to repair California.

The Bay Area Council, through its “Repair California” initiatives, has played a critical role as an outside, respected voice for reform. They have galvanized citizens throughout the state to get engaged – rather than enraged – in a meaningful way to strengthen our state. For their efforts, they deserve much more than our applause. They also deserve our encouragement to continue the discussions they have been having throughout the past year with other reform movements outside and inside the state Capitol.

Specifically, I hope the leaders at the Bay Area Council, under the direction of CEO Jim Wunderman and past Board Chairman Lenny Mendonca, will continue their conversations with California Forward, the effort funded by venerable foundations like Silicon Valley’s Hewlett Foundation and Packard Foundation.

California Forward’s efforts have focused on a specific set of important budget and governance reforms that they believe add up to comprehensive proposal: Protect local tax dollars; Demand an identified funding source for any new state program; Enact a two-year budget cycle, to name a few. They have invested the past few years researching the other 49 states to determine what each state is doing in the areas of budget and governance reform, what is actually working, and what might be transferable to California. With roughly 15 individual recommendations, each component part packaged together adds up to a comprehensive plan. I may not agree with all 15 individual parts, but I strongly support about 13 of the 15 – a great start.

So how do these two important efforts fit together?

From its inception, the Council’s “Repair California” provided a clear voice and a positive vision for everyday Californians frustrated with our broken governance system. It has provided the heart that any grass-roots effort needs in order to endure. The Council kept the call for reform on the front burner, with front-page newspaper coverage, blogs, TV and radio up and down the state. This sophisticated citizen outreach should not be set aside. While California Forward has studiously researched what is broken and specific ways to fix it, it has not been nearly as successful in getting everyday citizens to engage in its efforts.

Imagine these two important forces working as one. Head and Heart. Grassroots and Grass-Tops. Precise reforms with Passionate outreach. Californians, we have a rare moment in time to act. If these two groups pull together, with support from you, me and 38 million Californians, we can Repair California. We can move California Forward.

Women & Girls Summit

Nine months ago next Tuesday, my life changed forever. An attorney called from Ogden, Utah and said, "If you can fly here tomorrow, we have a newborn baby you can adopt. Excited & euphoric, Leslee & I jumped on expedia, hopped on an airplane & flew to Salt Lake. The next morning, just 36 hours old, our 5 pound newborn adopted baby girl Siena Alexandra left the hospital in our arms.

Born to a wonderful teenage mother, our daughter is 100 % Latina. We are proud of her rich ethnic heritage. We are also concerned by what we have learned about the lack of educational achievement of too many Latino young people not only in Ogden, but also here in Silicon Valley.

Right here In Santa Clara County, three out of four Hispanic girls do not pass the minimum requirements to be eligible for college. For Hispanic boys, it is even more alarming – with more than four out of five not meeting those basic college eligibility requirements.

Right here In Santa Clara County, only three of every ten sixth grade Hispanic students were proficient in mathematics.

Right here in Santa Clara County, nearly 60 percent of the High School Drop-outs in 2009 were Hispanic, even though they account for less than 35 percent of the High School student population.

That is why this Friday, right here in Santa Clara County, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group is partnering with NASA and numerous high-tech companies to host our Inaugural “Women & Girls Leadership Summit” at an ethnically rich, but economically poor, middle school in downtown San Jose. Peter Burnett Academy, with a student population that is 96 percent non-white and 86 percent Latino – is a great school with wonderful children, but who also face challenges that many of us will never know. More than 76 percent of these kids qualify for the Federal Governments “Free & Reduced Lunch Program” and nearly 50 percent are English Language Learners.

This Friday, we hope to take a positive step to reverse the current educational trends. The reason is simple - these are wonderful, hopeful kids, not hopeless statistics. That is why we are bringing on campus to directly dialogue and interact with nearly 450 middle school girls, more than 150 women tech executives and public official leaders. Congressmember Jackie Speier, NBC Bay Area Morning Anchor Laura Garcia-Canon, former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, Metric Stream CEO Shellye Archambeau and dozens of others.

Free this Friday? Join us. Visit the Silicon Valley Leadership Group web site and click on the "Women & Girls Summit" icon on our home page. Come to inspire young girls. Leave inspired by them.

Care to comment? You can comment on this or my past "Food for Thought" Commentaries by clicking on "The CEO Show" icon on the Leadership Group Web Site.

And now, back to my colleague Dennis Cima to wrap-up tonight's show.

Higher Education

This week, I was asked to testify in our state Capitol before the Joint Committee on the Master Plan for Higher Education.

Seated before a dozen Senators and Assemblymembers, I focused on a simple truth – California’s historically outstanding higher education system – both public and private schools – has fostered our global high-tech leadership. Silicon Valley would not be the world’s innovation capital if not for the excellence of our UC, CSU and Community College systems.

Each year, The Economist magazine rates the top 15 Universities in the world. Silicon Valley and the Bay Area are home to three of the top 15 – Stanford, UC Berkeley and UCSF. Locally, San Jose State University produces more of our engineers, and more of our classroom teachers, than any other university in the region. Our community colleges offer an outstanding education at an affordable price.

And, it is a little known fact that roughly 30 percent of middle-and upper-middle income jobs – both in high-tech and bio-tech – only require a community college degree or a certificate.

As our state looks at another round of budget cuts exceeding $20 billion over the next 18 months, let’s keep in mind the importance of a world-class higher education system. Silicon Valley’s success depends on attracting top talent from around the globe – and that top talent often starts here by coming to our universities to earn their education. Our strength has been in attracting top talent here, educating those talented young people here, and then allowing them to work, innovate and create right here.

Leaders in Sacramento, continue to invest in our future. It is vital to our economy, good for our state budget and important to our citizens, present and future.

That is my view. What do you think? Write them here and contact your state legislators to share your views. Let’s build a future for California even brighter than the one we inherited. Never forget, democracy is a participation sport. Join me. Get into the game.

Governance Reform

There's a lot of talk in Sacramento and around the state these days about budget and governance reform. That's good - with an unemployment rate about 12 percent, a Legislature who's approval ratings in today’s Field Poll hover at 16 percent and a Capital filled primarily with well-meaning people who lack the tools they need for success, it is time for substantive, specific and comprehensive reforms.

So where to start? Here are some ideas:

First, change the state budget process.

* Move to performance-based budgeting, where what the state spends of our tax dollars is actually measured against whether it efficiently and effectively produces the outcomes we were promised.

* Emphasize strong oversight of existing expenditures. Some states, like Texas, legislate one year and focus on over-sight of existing programs the next year. California should consider a similar system.

* Create a Sunset Review process to determine whether there is a continuing need for existing commissions, agencies and programs.

* Require the state auditor to participate in oversight hearings and report on whether past recommendations were enacted.

Second, reform the initiative process.

* Require initiatives that propose new spending to specifically propose how to pay for that spending.

* Require that one-time revenues only be used for one-time, rather than on-going, purposes.

Third, unshackle well-meaning legislators from the power of political party caucuses and the special interests that fund them.

* Pass the Open Primary Initiative on this year's June election ballot. Specifically, let’s change the state primary election nomination process for Congressional, Statewide and Legislative Elections to allow all voters to choose any candidate, and the top two candidates become the nominees for the November general election run-off, regardless of their political party.

There is a lot of talk about reforming the way our state government functions today, or more accurately, does not function. When people talk to you of reform, demand specifics rather than generalities.

These are a few of the specifics I would like to see in any comprehensive reform proposals seeking my support. Equally important, what are your priorities? Tell your Legislators and the Governor the reforms you want to see. This isn't a time to take pitch forks to Sacramento. Rather, it is a time we all pitched in to save and strengthen our state. Never forget, our Democracy was not created for us to sit on the sidelines. Get engaged and move things forward.

Health Care Reform

Here is some "Food for Thought" that aired Tuesday on 1590 AM KLIV during "The CEO Show," which I host:

Currently, Congress and President Obama are putting their final touches on what they hope will be comprehensive health care reform. Since health care accounts for one-sixth of the American economy, the decisions they make will impact the lives and livelihoods of almost every American.

From my perspective and the perspective of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, there are core elements that we hope will be in any final health care plan: Universal coverage for all Americans; cost containment for individuals and employers; improved quality and coordination of care; an emphasis on wellness, diet and exercise; health IT; and tort reform.

The current House and Senate bills stack up against our priorities as follows:

• Universal coverage for all Americans: It looks like 96 percent would be covered; not 100 percent, but much better than today's 85 percent. 
• Cost Containment: In terms of reducing the cost of health care for individuals and employers, serious concerns remain that the current plans will not reduce costs in the short-term or even the mid-term. 
• Improved quality: We spend more per capita than any nation in the world but have poor health outcomes. We need quality, not quantity. The bill will create medical homes for patients and providers will be in charge of managing your health, not just treating you and sending you home. 
• Wellness: Forty percent of American adults are obese or overweight, and nearly 30 percent of children obese or overweight creating an epidemic that triggers largely avoidable serious illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol. Both bills could and should do more about this. 
• Health IT: Electronic medical records, electronic prescribing and disease management, telemedicine and other emerging technologies will bring us improved efficiencies, reduction in errors, and better outcomes, all positive byproducts of positive gains in incorporating health IT. This has the potential of being a strong aspect of a final bill. 
• Tort Reform: Avoiding frivolous lawsuits against doctors has proven to lower costs in states that have adopted thoughtful tort reform. Currently, such sensible steps are not in either plan. 

Comprehensive Health Care Reform: The chances look increasingly certain that something will pass, and be signed by the President, in the days or weeks ahead. I have shared the priority provisions of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. They may or may not be yours. Whatever your priorities might be, pick up your phone or click on your keyboard and contact your Member of Congress.

There is too much at stake to sit on the sidelines of this important national debate.
I welcome your feedback. Never forget, our Democracy was not created for us to sit on the sidelines. Get engaged and move the ball forward.