David Lesher

California, the most diverse and entrepreneurial state in America, is poised for a big step onto the national stage this year. Its presidential primary is moving to the front end of the 2008 campaign season. Its native daughter, Nancy Pelosi, is serving her historic first year as Speaker of the House. And the nation is taking notice as a series of major bipartisan policy agreements take place in Sacramento.

Within this… more

California lawmakers are considering giving $500 to every single baby born in the state. The bipartisan bill aims to give babies a financial head start with a savings account. "Anything we can do to encourage savings and investment and to provide a young adult -- especially young adults from lower income families, families of modest means -- to be able to have a small nest egg to go to college to learn a career, down payment on the… more

Mar. 1 - KGO - A new plan to give newborns a head start is getting mixed reviews. The idea is to give every baby born in California $500 dollars. It would be a nest egg they would have money out of taxpayers pockets today -- that would be a nest egg when those babies become young adults... After families add money, at 18 the child would have to pay the state back $500 and use what's left… more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Every child born in California would get a $500 savings account to start building a nest egg for college or a down payment for a home, under a state Senate bill introduced Wednesday.California would be the first state with such a program, said David Lesher, a program director for the nonprofit New America Foundation, based in Washington. A national savings program has languished in Congress since 2005; a similar program has increased savings in Britain… more

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was playing to a growing crowd of voters, in California and across the nation, when he used his inaugural address last month to urge people to "move past partisanship'' to a new home in the political center...It's a sentiment that appeals to the burgeoning number of voters who don't want to be identified with the Republican or Democratic parties and to the many people unwilling to be tied to their party's candidates or policies... more

Sacramento lawmakers are in a trap. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton will decide in little more than three months whether to set a population cap on the state’s vastly overcrowded prison system, potentially forcing the early release of thousands of convicted criminals. To keep the court at bay, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked the Legislature to approve billions in new prison construction money, and to consider revising sentencing and parole laws to put fewer criminals behind bars.

The trap is this:… more

Contact: Steven Hill (415-6655044) or David Lesher (916-448-3721)

The poll analysis, survey questions and results are available for download in PDF format.

SACRAMENTO, CA – As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger calls for more competition in elections, a survey commissioned by the New America Foundation finds that nearly three-quarters of California voters would like to see the governor and the Legislature create a citizen’s panel to explore ideas for making the state’s election process more fair and competitive. If lawmakers did… more

Governor Schwarzenegger has said that the top goal he will announce next year is to expand health insurance coverage to all Californians. This half-day conference was designed to provide him and others with fresh answers to the hard questions of how coverage expansion can be financed and how responsibility could be shared among families, employers, and government.

Presenters ranged from state officials, private employers, health policy advocates, as well as experts from academia, think tanks, and international consulting firms. California's… more

ABC's KGO-TV featured David Lesher, director of New America's California Program, in a recent piece on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA).

Excerpts from the transcript appear below. For the complete article, and to watch the news clip, please visit the ABC News website.

KGO - State lawmakers got an earful today from Governor Schwarzenegger as he unveiled his plans for the new term. While new legislators are still learning their way around the capitol, the governor made it clear he thinks… more

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is signaling that he will push strongly for redistricting reform next year to change California's gerrymandered election process, relying on the same bipartisan course he steered successfully this year.

Voters rejected the governor's redistricting ballot initiative in last year's special election. Legislative leaders were unable to work out a deal in time for this November's vote, but there appears to be renewed interest from both parties to fix a flawed system...

Doolittle rejected any approach that would… more