This year’s State of The State, held at Embassy Suites in San Luis Obispo, brought together more than 200 leaders from the San Luis Obispo County business community. CA Senator John Laird and political journalist/co-founder of CalMatters, David Lesher, discussed future trends on politics and policies that could affect the future for California while onstage with moderator Christine Robertson, Executive Director of the San Luis Coastal Education Foundation. The event was divided into three discussions summarized below, one with each of the presenters followed by a Q&A session featuring audience questions.
Conversation with David Lesher
David shared his reasons for starting CalMatters as a way for bipartisanship in journalism to have a voice. Prior to 2010 he felt “there was no motivation to share” information across party lines or even to collaborate. In conjunction with Cal Poly and 10Up, CalMatters is now able to collect more information, allowing for legislative transparency that can reach more people on a large scale. He touched on the need for development with environmental concerns in mind, the ongoing discourse around homelessness in California and the long road ahead on how to address issues around mental health and housing. He also addressed the use of AI and how that could affect jobs in the future and noted arguments that could arise around tax issues.
Conversation with Senator John Laird
When asked about restoring bipartisanship, Senator Laird said, “It takes two parties to tango!” He shared that even though there are no real incentives to reach across party lines, he does it anyway. As a result, proactive and joint efforts are made with bills that reflect the importance of reaching out and working together, not for the good of the party but for the good of the country.
He expressed appreciation for the work done on the ground here in California vs. Washington D.C., and shared the example of keeping hospitals in the state open that provided needed care. He was impressed with the five year San Luis Obispo Countywide Plan to End Homelessness, but felt that the federal and state governments are severely disjointed when it comes to the topic. Lack of short term housing needs to be looked at along with mental health infrastructure. He also said that when it comes to the state budget and the 68 billion dollar deficit, the strategy moving forward to close the gap “will be difficult with tough decisions ahead.”
Audience questions with both presenters
Christine Robertson read a variety of audience questions directed toward one or both of the speakers. Senator Laird shared that there were some unintended consequences as a result of the minimum wage increase, especially in how it was implemented. David Lesher thought that single payer insurance will be a heavy lift to be done in one shot and that it will likely be done in stages. When it came to tax reform, both agreed that it would take a strong shift in money and political guts to tackle. David thought that housing, artificial intelligence legislation and the budget deficit will be important issues that the business community will face in 2024. Senator Laird agreed and also added that offshore wind and Diablo Canyon as it relates to the Central Coast will be important. Both agreed on a future that was hopeful with more bipartisanship, not only in governing bodies, but in the reporting of information as well.