Lots of things:
Proposition 13, which froze property-tax rates at artificially low levels, and allows many businesses to avoid paying their fair share.
The two-thirds rules in the legislature, which prevent virtually anything from getting done.
Our infrastructure, which was the envy of the world in the 1960s and which now is falling apart due to creeping neglect.
And the citizenry, which demands everything–cops and firefighters, world-class universities and schools, good roads, parks, and libraries–but is totally unwilling to pay for them.
In this month’s San Francisco magazine, I discuss the Golden State’s ills, as well as a few possible solutions, with Jeff Lustig, a veteran activist, professor, and the editor of Remaking California, a collection of essays that makes the case that only a constitutional convention can get us back on track. Of course, a push for just such a convention died earlier this year, but Lustig thinks there will be more to come. I think so, too. It’s hard to imagine anything else working.
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