‘No’ on Props. 53 and 54

Proposition 53, which would mandate that a certain part of the state budget be spent on improving the infrastructure—roads, prisons, state office buildings, etc.—is yet another measure that would strait-jacket the Legislature by limiting its budgeting options. The money would have to come from the general fund, which means schools, colleges, health care and similar programs would suffer. Prop. 53 is more of what ails us, not an improvement.

Proposition 54, which would forbid the state from collecting race data in most instances, is well-intentioned but dangerously misguided. With the admirable goal of promoting a "colorblind" society, it would put limits on our ability to understand how various racial groups in the state are doing. This would be especially dangerous in the area of health care, where racial differences matter greatly. And other questions remain: Do black drivers get stopped more often? Are schools that serve mostly Latinos in worse shape than schools serving European-Americans? We need to know the answers. It’s one thing to be "colorblind"; it’s quite another to become blind to racial discrimination.