Parking pass: privatization gone wrong.

• Author: Staley, Sam
• Position: Citings - Brief article

ORDINARILY, killing a government subsidy would be cause for celebration. But don't rush out to buy party hats for a purported parking privatization proposal in California. A quick summary of Senate Bill 518, introduced into the California General Assembly on February 26, makes it sound like a money-saving, taxpayer-friendly reform: The legislation would "require that state funds not be used, directly or indirectly, to subsidize parking services" after January I, 2011. Yet a closer look reveals something more sinister.

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In fact, the legislation encourages broader actions by anti-car politicians and bureaucrats to banish the automobile from normal travel. It forces landlords to charge separately for parking...