Logue’s dubious gifts

Our assemblyman, Dan Logue (R-Linda), is holding another of his dog-and-pony shows Friday, this time in Truckee. For months now he’s been running up and down the state and even to Nevada to hold these so-called “jobs and business hearings.” We’re starting to wonder when he gets any work done.

If these “hearings” on the impact of state regulations were held sincerely—that is, with an open mind—they could be valuable, especially if there were follow-up in the form of legislation to clear out outdated rules or procedures. But Logue is out to collect “horror stories” and score political points, not find the truth, and there’s been no follow-up, just a lot of partisan huffing and puffing.

Logue keeps insisting that California’s business climate is driving companies out of the state. But data show that in fact business relocation has little impact on the state’s economy. The nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California has found that relocation costs the state only about 11,000 jobs each year, a minute portion of the total number of jobs in California.

It’s amazing, come to think of it, what Dan Logue has given the people of California: a bogus, over-hyped anti-regulation campaign that’s all smoke and no fire, and the industry-backed Dirty Oil initiative to roll back AB 32 on the November ballot. It’s our fault, really: We elected the guy.