Wray-Lake Pens Commentary on Lower Voting Ages

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A Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) commentary by UCLA Luskin Professor of Social Welfare Laura Wray-Lake highlights the first time that 16- and 17-year-olds will be allowed to vote in school board elections in two California cities. Oakland and Berkeley teens will be the youngest voters in California, joining a growing number of under-18 youth nationally and internationally who have gained that right. “Policies to expand voting rights to 16- and 17-year-olds are being actively debated in cities and states across the U.S.,” Wray-Lake said. Since 1995, California has considered statewide policy to lower the voting age 12 times, including in 2023 with proposed legislation that would have lowered the voting age to 17 for all elections. Wray-Lake outlines four arguments for lowering age requirements related to capacity, rights, developmental timing and civic engagement. “Lowering the voting age could also be a catalyst for greater investment in statewide civic education.”

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Millard-Ball on Realities of Autonomous Taxis

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Visions of an autonomous car future may come with a few bumps. UCLA Luskin’s Adam Millard-Ball, professor of urban planning and director of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, commented in a Wired story on how a so-called robotaxi revolution could play out as self-driving vehicles are hitting the road. Promoters of a driverless future like Tesla’s Elon Musk see a promising outlook for autonomous taxis, including car sharing systems that allow self-driving-car owners to rent out their vehicles while not in use by the owner, potentially alleviating parking problems. Not exactly, say some experts like Millard-Ball, citing studies of Uber and Lyft’s effects on U.S. cities that show the introduction of these services have actually created more urban traffic. “That’s going backward for the environment and for other urban goals — whether it’s being physically active or socially inclusive,” Millard-Ball said.

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Zepeda-Millán on Anti-Immigration Campaign Rhetoric

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Chris Zepeda-Millán, associate professor of public policy at UCLA Luskin, commented in a U.S. News & World Report story on anti-immigration rhetoric used by presidential candidate Donald Trump on the 2024 campaign trail. The story suggests that while the former president’s messaging could repel Latino voters the final weeks before the general election, he could possibly sway a small group that could make the difference, notably in swing states. “His courting of the Latino vote is definitely a legitimate concern for the Harris campaign and for Democrats in general,” said Zepeda-Millán, who also holds appointments in Chicana/o Studies and Political Science. While the goal of Trump and Republicans may not be to win a majority of Latino voters, he added, “they just want to confuse enough Latino voters to either not go out and vote or to shave enough off from the Democrats in order to weaken Latinos as a voting bloc.”

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A Test of L.A. County’s Ballot Measures on Homelessness

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UCLA Luskin Professor of Public Policy and Urban Planning Michael Lens commented in an LAist story on measures meant to address homelessness efforts in Los Angeles County. Measure H, approved by voters in 2017, has a sunset date in 2027, while Measure A, on this November’s ballot, would include a half-cent sales tax intended to continue addressing homelessness. “A lot of people look around and say, ‘What has this money necessarily done for us?’” Lens said, but he noted that voters might also conclude that the crisis could be much worse if not for Measure H. In a CalMatters article by Jim Newton of UCLA’s Blueprint magazine, Lens said that whether voters can be sure that investments like Measure A will pay off is “a bit of a leap of faith.” In the same article, Zev Yaroslavsky, longtime public servant and director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, said the measure will serve as a referendum on progress achieved so far, warning, “This may be the last shot.”
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Shoup Talks Parking With NYC DOT

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UCLA Luskin’s Donald Shoup was a guest on the New York City Department of Transportation’s “Curb Enthusiasm” podcast. The distinguished research professor of urban planning and author of “The High Cost of Free Parking” shared insights on his favorite topic — parking benefit districts in which cities charge market prices for curb parking and then use all or most of the revenue to pay for added services on the metered block. Shoup also provided a bit of history behind his curb price calling, which he says started in Manhattan when he was a PhD student in economics writing his doctoral dissertation on the land market. “I did notice that almost all cars parked free on some of the most valuable land on Earth. And I thought, well, how would a land economist explain this? It is very puzzling. And I have been sort of following with that insight for about 60 years.”

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What to Do About Unpaid Bus Ridership

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Jacob Wasserman, a research project manager at the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, commented in a Washington Post story on bus fare evasion on the D.C. Metro system and what public officials are doing to address the cost of unpaid rides. Transit systems nationwide are considering the pros and cons of imposing measures to reduce nonpayment rates, including stopping collection fares. In the D.C. Metro region, unpaid fairs represent nearly 70% of ridership, according to the story. A new plan under consideration by D.C. Metro would reduce contributions from jurisdictions based on the amount paying riders contribute. “Bus operators have really mixed feelings,” Wasserman said. “Some don’t like fares because it often escalates into confrontations. On the other hand, fares are one of the few levers they have to control who is on their bus. It’s a complicated issue.”

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Manville on California’s Proposition 33

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Michael Manville, chair of Urban Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, commented on a KQED podcast on California’s Proposition 33, which would repeal the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. The state law prohibits local ordinances that limit initial residential rental rates for new tenants as well as rates for current tenants in certain residential properties. Pro-Prop. 33 advocates cite the state’s sky-high rents, while anti-Prop. 33 proponents characterize the ballot measure as a corporate anti-housing scheme. “If we’re serious about helping our most vulnerable tenants, that’s really going to involve some combination of making housing in general just much more plentiful, and spending money in targeted subsidies for low-income people,” Manville said. In a Caló News article, Manville said that Prop. 33, while well intended, could have a number of untended consequences. “Prop. 33 does not offer rent control to more Californians. It removes a law that limits how strong a rent control law can be right now.”

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Hecht on Brazil’s Powerhouse Soybean Industry

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Susanna Hecht, professor of urban planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, commented in an Americas Quarterly feature on the history of Brazil’s soybean industry and its half-century of expansion to become one of the leading producers of soy worldwide. Hecht, an expert on the political ecology of Latin American tropics — specifically Amazonia — commented on how Brazil became a soybean powerhouse, producing more than half of the global soybean supply. The story details the sector’s origins and growth under the country’s 1964-85 military dictatorship. In the 1976-77 harvest, Brazil produced 12 million metric tons of soy, nearly all of it in the south. By 2000-01, production tripled to 38.4 million, with Brazil’s center-west emerging as the lead soy-growing region. “It was [an attempt] to try to create a Midwest in Brazil,” said Hecht, a specialist on Latin American tropical development. “It’s national capital, government capital stimulating the growth.”

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Health Care Policy and the 2024 Election

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The Los Angeles Times asked health care experts to comment on health policies proposed by the two major candidates running for U.S. president. Topics included the Affordable Care Act, the cost of prescription drugs and Medicare. Both candidates have signaled that they would attempt to lower prescription drug costs as well as protect Medicare, but have been light on details during a campaign season in which Americans have ranked health care high on the list of important issues, according to the story. Mark A. Peterson, professor of public policy at UCLA Luskin, discussed risk pooling, which involves sharing medical costs to calculate insurance premiums. Peterson, who also holds appointments in political science and law at UCLA, said a plan that included risk pooling could lower insurance costs for the young and healthy but the practice also risks driving up rates for older people, especially those with chronic conditions.

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Astor on Wave of False Threats of Violence in Schools

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School safety expert Ron Avi Astor, a professor of social welfare at UCLA Luskin, spoke to Axios about the recent wave of false threats of violence directed at schools across the United States, which have caused numerous police responses, evacuations and temporary closures. “The goal for some of these [perpetrators] is to create anxiety and a sense of terror,” said Astor, noting that false threats can lead to copycat threats. In addition to disrupting learning, false threats through social media can lead to heightened community fears as well as time-consuming and costly government and police responses. The article cites data that education facilities are the most targeted locations for threats and that false reports were responsible for nearly 30% of school violence incidents nationally in 2023-24. False reports have included threats of shootings, bombs and a variety of other dangers. Arrests have been made in some jurisdictions while others are increasing consequences.

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