On Tuesday, Supervisor Eric Mar unveiled a measure for the November ballot that would impose a 1.5 percent payroll tax on tech firms, which would be identified by their IRS tax identification codes.
Los Angeles has hemorrhaged manufacturing jobs since 2007, casting a pall over the state’s economic recovery, according to a forecast released Tuesday by Chapman University.
Yee’s council explored two often-discussed changes in the tax system: a split-roll property tax in which business property would be taxed on a different basis than residential property, and taxation of services, which makes up a greater and greater share of the state’s economy. . . The council was instructed not to deal with the spending side of the budget. That is a glaring omission. If one is trying to determine how much revenue is needed to run the state, spending reforms must be considered.
This past year, public nuisance lawsuits have spiraled out of control in California. Cities like San Diego, Berkeley and Los Angeles have been convinced to sue U.S. companies for enormous sums. Trial lawyers, looking to win big, scour the state and the nation for potential plaintiffs and then recruit municipalities to partner with them to file suits against businesses
The USA Today editors hit the nail on the head in their assessment that, “The best way to deal with inversions and other tax-avoidance games is to cut the high corporate tax rates that are prompting corporate leaders to seek relief in gimmicks. Like so much else in Washington, however, efforts to fix corporate taxes are going nowhere fast. Congress is loath to take on a tough issue. And the Obama administration continues to push Band-Aid efforts.”
By inching below the 1,075ft threshold, the lake’s historic low provoked a Level 1 Water Shortage declaration, signaling the start of potential water cuts to Arizona and Nevada. If Lake Mead sinks to 1,025ft (312m), the Department of Interior will seize control of its management and water allocation, and if it falls to 900ft (274m) it will be considered “deadpool,” meaning that water is no longer passing through the turbines. Falling water levels are the result of a drought in the Colorado River Basin that has dragged on for 16 years and counting.
Some 5,500 customers — including residences and businesses — scattered across Los Angeles were affected as of 2 p.m. Most would probably have power restored by the evening, Department of Water and Power officials said.
First, the good news: This winter, much of the Sierra had a near-average snowpack. Now, the bad news: It has melted early.
. . . extending the Prop. 30 tax extensions effectively bails out California State Democrat politicians for their inability to take any steps to curb spending and prepare for the expiration of the Prop. 30 tax increases. . . But once the Prop. 30 tax revenues came flooding in California Democrat Legislators have done nothing but spend and expand permanent government programs without regard for the stated “temporary” nature of the tax increases.
May state revenues fell short of projections in Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised budget proposal by $154.3 million, weighed down by corporation tax refunds far higher than expected, State Controller Betty T. Yee reported today.
Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature have reached agreement on a budget for the coming fiscal year that repeals a long-criticized rule limiting welfare payments for people who have more children, as well as making an optional $2 billion deposit into the state’s rainy-day reserve.
With the California Chamber of Commerce announcing yesterday that it will oppose the Proposition 30 income tax extension, the question arises if a campaign will come together to match the financial firepower that the teachers, medical professionals and other public employee unions bring to the table in support of the measure.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey has again drawn the wrath of the White House for calling attention to the rising violence in urban areas. Homicides increased 9% in the largest 63 cities in the first quarter of 2016; nonfatal shootings were up 21%, according to a Major Cities Chiefs Association survey. Those increases come on top of last year’s 17% rise in homicides in the 56 biggest U.S. cities, with 10 heavily black cities showing murder spikes above 60%.
Democrats have sweetened welfare and Medicaid benefits as well as grants for college students. And, of course, government workers have received fat raises. The state Legislative Analyst Office estimates that the prison guards’ new contract will cost the state $588 million in 2018. Mr. Brown’s budget includes an extra $734 million for home health-care workers (many represented by the SEIU). Pension costs have jumped by nearly three-quarters to $8.1 billion since 2011. The $15 an hour minimum wage that Mr. Brown recently signed will cost $3.4 billion when fully phased in for state workers.
Days after the state’s biggest revenue month fell significantly short of his office’s expectations, Gov. Jerry Brown released a $169.3 billion revised spending plan Friday that assumes nearly $2 billion less revenue through June 2017, with the governor warning that people need to prepare “for a time of necessity.”