Brown flunks infrastructure safety

We had to laugh when we saw a California lawmaker urging his fellow Democrats to back off confrontations with President Donald Trump until after he gives the state billions of federal dollars to fix the state’s crumbling infrastructure.

Where was this lawmaker five, 10 or 15 years ago when it was becoming obvious the state had a problem with its infrastructure, and not just roadways. As the damage at the Oroville Dam shows us, the state has been somewhat negligent in keeping up with not just repairs, but assessments of the risks aging infrastructure poses.

Gov. Jerry Brown must share in that blame. He has been so focused on the high-speed rail project he has practically ignored everything else. Not that the fast train may be fun to ride someday, but even after its completion — which we may never see — it will do nothing to solve the state’s crumbling infrastructure needs.

There are things the governor and state Legislature can do right now to help. First, highway funding that is being diverted to the state’s general fund can be restored. Taxes paid by trucks are not going to fix our roadways and that is millions and millions of dollars every year. The governor can stop that almost immediately, then we can talk about other revenue ideas.

And, maybe bad-mouthing the president of the United States is not such a good idea when the first time we have a crisis, we go running to that same president with our hands out.