That’s Debatable

State Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) has authored Senate Bill 518, which just made its way from the state Senate to the state Assembly. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, the bill, which has the backing of an environmental conservation group, the Natural Resources Defense Council, would, among other things, create financial incentives for cities and counties to implement the green-friendly measure of eliminating free street parking, if not restricting it or reducing available free street parking by installing meters. What do you think of this idea?

It’s a terrible idea and yet another example of nanny-state meddling in the lives of Californians.

As with many such measures, it will create unintended consequences, such as more online retail sales as well as increased fuel consumption as people circle around in their cars looking for a scarce parking space.

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore

(R-Newport Beach)

On many levels this is an unnecessary intrusion by state government. First, parking is a local issue. Let local governments work out their own parking policies with local businesses. One size does not fit all in California. Second, where does the state think it is going to get the money to offer “incentives” to local government? We are furloughing workers, our infrastructure is crumbling and the legislature continues to spend like we won the lottery. Third, this is social engineering at its worst. Big city lawmakers want to impose their view of what is politically correct on every locality. What works in an urban area like San Francisco most likely won’t work in Santa Ana. Just leave parking decisions to the locals.

State Sen. Tom Harman

(R-Costa Mesa)

I oppose penalizing business for having parking available. It is another example of over-burdensome government intruding on our lives and worse yet, a misplaced priority. We should be working on creating jobs and revitalizing our economy. Small businesses are the innovators and job creators in our country. We need to let them grow, rather than suffocate them with more regulation. Job creators are essential to our economy.

In order for us to turn things around in Washington and Sacramento, we need to stop diverting our attention to misplaced priorities and focus on getting government out of the way so small business owners can create jobs.

Assemblyman Van Tran

(R-Costa Mesa)