News

Most Americans agree that the future of the U.S. economy depends on the ability of its businesses to compete globally. One of the key factors that allow U.S. employers to grow their businesses and create new jobs is their ability to recruit and retain talent from other countries. How well does the current U.S. employment-based immigration system support this goal?  Based on original research and analysis, Business Roundtable found that the United States falls short when compared to other advanced economies.

Experts say employee skills, coupled with a vast amount of private equity, great weather, a range of attractions, and its geographic connection to investment from the rest of the Pacific Rim and Asia, continue to keep California’s economy strong.

Pat Mulroy, the former leader of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, delivered a bluntly worded warning to attendees at the California Water Policy Conference in Claremont, saying the linkage between the Delta and much of the West is clear, “yet many here in California still don’t see the connection.”

The prospect of semi-permanent drought would require courageous political leadership. We should put at least as much effort into protecting our vital water supply as we are wasting on a bullet train that we neither want nor need.

“Much of California is still struggling: The strong dollar is depressing Central Valley agricultural exports, the lowest oil prices in years are squeezing the Kern County oil fields and extreme housing prices along the coastline are giving potential home buyers pause. But in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, those factors are fueling a growth spurt that’s already among the fastest in the state, according to a report released at an economic conference in Ontario on Thursday.”

As Los Angeles officials await a study on the economic impact of a pair of proposals to raise the minimum wage, both business and labor groups have weighed in with their own studies.

California employers would be required to pay their employees double for working on Thanksgiving or Christmas under a bill advancing at the state Capitol. The measure passed its first committee vote Wednesday.

“The Bureau of Labor Statistics revised its 2014 employment numbers Tuesday and sharply raised net job creation in California to nearly a half-million. The upward revision in California was accompanied by a downward revision for Texas, reversing what had been reported earlier to be a big edge for the latter.”

Most developed countries impose little or no additional tax on the active foreign income of multinational companies. Today the United States is the only developed country with a worldwide system and a corporate income tax rate above 30%. Consequently, foreign companies can afford to bid more for acquisitions in the United States and abroad as compared to US companies.

Since January 2011, when Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown Jr., became governor for the third time, the 63 publicly traded California companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 produced the best total return among the five states with the largest populations. California companies in the S&P 500 delivered returns of 134 percent; the closest big-state challenger was Florida, whose S&P companies had an 82 percent return, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Texas-based companies delivered 52 percent during the period.

As difficult as it may be to face, the simple fact is that California is running out of water — and the problem started before our current drought. NASA data reveal that total water storage in California has been in steady decline since at least 2002, when satellite-based monitoring began, although groundwater depletion has been going on since the early 20th century.

. . . Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, introduced Assembly Bill 1434, which would give Jones rate-setting authority over “preferred provider organization” plans offered by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

The findings–to be released as soon as Wednesday–are likely to fuel business demands that Congress rewrite U.S. tax rules. Businesses want Congress to lower the U.S. corporate tax rate, now the highest among developed countries at 35%. They also want to loosen the U.S. system’s unusual global reach.

How do taxes in your state compare nationally? This convenient pocket-size booklet compares the 50 states on many different measures of taxing and spending, including individual and corporate income tax rates, business tax climates, excise taxes, tax burdens and state spending.

The General Fund has different responsibilities today than it did in 2007 and, therefore, the level of General Fund spending today is not easily comparable to that discussed in our November 2007 Fiscal Outlook. In several key areas of public services, the state has shifted funding responsibilities from the General Fund to (1) other state and local government accounts or (2) individuals and families. Because of these shifts, current General Fund spending arguably is understated relative to what might have been expected prior to the recession. . . In a hypothetical world in which none of the shifts above occurred and the General Fund still paid for all of these expenses, General Fund spending in 2015-16 might be somewhere between $125 billion and $130 billion, much higher than the $113 billion reflected in the Governor’s recent spending proposal.