There is an old cliche about the legislative process and the analogy or metaphor used is making sausage.  As I watch the California Legislature in “special session” this year address the issue of road repairs and Medi-cal funding, I realize a better comparison is that you do not want to watch people LEARN how to make sausage.

Because of term limits, the membership of our legislature turns over very frequently and this year I have heard numerous Assemblypersons and Senators state publically how little they knew or understood the specific public policy issue they were discussing with a particular bill.  They were trying, but it was very clear they were learning on the job!

This week was particularly rough as a bill was heard to establish a new office in state government to regulate medical marijuana from “seed to sale” and at least four members of the comittee hearing the bill (SB 643) admitted this was “the most complex” subject they had ever tried to understand.  The next bill on the agenda wanted to establish a new license for mental health professionals in the field of ‘behavior analysis’ and it was patently obvious that the majority of the committee had absolutely no idea what they were voting on.  I am very worried about the direction of this state.