UC experts on government reorganization

State legislators will be considering a report on reorganizing state government proposed by the Governor's California Performance Review Commission. A number of UC faculty experts are available to discuss related topics with the media.

Irvine

Linda Cohen, a UCI professor of economics, is an expert on government regulation and government research and technology policy. She can discuss the commission's plan to establish a Department of Infrastructure, its impact on energy and research policy in the state as well as more generally about the goals of the review. Cohen is a fellow of the California Council for Science and Technology and vice-chair of the California Energy Commission?s Independent Advisory Panel for the Public Interest Energy Research Program. She also is a member of the National Research Council committee on Prospective Evaluation of DOE Research and Development in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy. (949) 824 5189 or lrcohen@uci.edu

UCLA

Jody Freeman, a UCLA professor of law, is an authority on administrative law and environmental law. She has written extensively about government agency structure, public-private collaboration, and environmental regulation and policy. (310) 206-2611, freeman@law.ucla.edu

Werner Z. Hirsch, a UCLA professor emeritus of economics, has extensive experience working directly with state government agencies and departments on broad policy issues. To interview Hirsch, contact Harlan Lebo at (310) 206-0510 or hlebo@college.ucla.edu

Joseph Hurd, a senior economist with the UCLA Anderson Forecast, is available to discuss the fiscal effects - such as taxes and the state budget - for California under the proposed plan.
(925) 939- 4926

Sanford M. Jacoby, the Howard Noble Professor of Management at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, is available to speak from a government-relations management perspective regarding job loss and state government downsizing. (310) 206-6550, sanford.jacoby@anderson.ucla.edu

Daniel J.B. Mitchell, Ho-su Wu Chair in Management at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and professor of policy studies, is available to talk about a proposed part-time legislature and yearly, or one-year budget cycle. (310) 825-1504

Riverside

SPECIAL EDUCATION: Jan Blacher, Professor of education, Graduate School of Education, Director of the UC Riverside Families Project, has extensive research knowledge – through her involvement in the UCR Families Project – of how children with developmental disabilities and special needs, and their families, cope with the stresses of obtaining resources from the state’s 21 Regional Centers. She can discuss issues related to the special education hearing and mediation process, which the report recommends be returned to the state Office of Administrative Hearings from the current contract with the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. (951) 827-3875 or jan.blacher@ucr.edu

AIR QUALITY, RENEWABLE FUELS AND LOW EMISSION VEHICLES: James Lents, Chairman and Director, Center for Sustainable Suburban Development, can discuss the importance of maintaining adequate oversight over regional air quality in California. He spent 27 years directing air quality improvement programs, including 12 years as executive officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District. At the SCAQMD, Lents oversaw development of the first air quality management plan ever to be approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the Los Angeles area. (951) 827-7829 or jlents@cert.ucr.edu

AIR QUALITY, RENEWABLE FUELS AND LOW EMISSION VEHICLES: Joseph Norbeck, Director of the Center for Environmental Research and Technology, Professor of environmental engineering. His current research includes, the relationship between vehicle emissions and air quality, development of renewable fuels, and development of advanced vehicle technology. He has held a gubernatorial appointment as an air quality expert on the California Inspection/Maintenance Review Committee and is a member of other committees including the Cal/EPA Environmental Technology Partnership Task Force, the Executive Research Advisory Committee of the Society of Automotive Engineers, and Scientific Review Committee for the South Coast Air Quality Management District. (951) 781-5778 or joe@cert.ucr.edu

PUBLIC POLICY: Max Neiman, Professor of political science, Director of the Center for Social & Behavioral Science, can talk about the policy implications of the proposed consolidation of infrastructure agencies, the elimination of regulatory bodies, and the shifting of many oversight functions under the banner of the governor's office. His primary research interests include public policy, urban political economy, and urban conflict over development. His 2000 book, Defending Government: Why Big Government Works, documents the ways in which government has played a positive role in American society. (951) 827-4693 or max.neiman@ucr.edu

PUBLIC ADVOCACY: Shaun Bowler, Professor of political science, can comment on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s use of public forums and the initiative process to push his governmental change agenda. Bowler's research interests include comparative electoral systems, the initiative process and voting behavior. The co-author of Demanding Choices: Opinions and Voting in Direct Democracy, Bowler has studied elections all over the world. Bowler is currently working on a paper titled “Recall Elections: The Politics of Spite?” (951) 827-5595 or shaun.bowler@ucr.edu

EDUCATIONAL POLICY: Douglas Mitchell, Professor of education, Graduate School of Education, Director of the School Improvement Research Group, can discuss the effects of the proposed elimination of county offices of education and the consolidation of State Superintendent of Public Instruction and Secretary of Education into a new Department of Education and Workforce Preparation under the Governor's Office. He studies how education policy is drafted and carried out, how school districts organize themselves and guide teachers and administrators. (951) 827-4547 or Douglas.Mitchell@ucr.edu

San Diego

Thaddeus B. Kousser is an authority on California politics and general government. Kousser's research interests include legislative politics, policymaking, and political regulation. His publications include work on term limits, reapportionment, campaign finance laws, the blanket primary, health care policy, and European Parliament elections. Kousser's book, Term Limits: Undoing the Professionalization of American State Legislatures, is forthcoming from Cambridge University Press. 858-534-3239, tkousser@ucsd.edu

Steven Erie is an expert on California state and local government. His research interests include urban politics, public policy, ethnic/minority group politics, and American political development. He is Director of the Urban Studies Program at UCSD. His most recent book is Globalizing L.A.: Trade, Infrastructure and Regional Development. Professor Erie also is actively involved in public policy debates on issues of infrastructure, regional development, international trade, governance and public finance. 858-534-3083, serie@ucsd.edu