The California Supreme Court ruled this week that evidence that a project may have a significant effect on the environment does not, in and of itself, preclude the use of a categorical exemption under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
California had the fifth-highest wages in the country, with a Q2 2014 average weekly wage of $1,072. The state’s housing prices went up 8.12% between Q3 2013 and Q3 2014, the third-biggest jump in the country. The state government’s huge 2013 surplus of $32 billion was the largest of any state.
The statewide snowpack was at just 19% of average for the date — the second-lowest statewide snowpack recorded in early March since 1991’s reading of 18%. In January the statewide snowpack was at 25%.
The bank reported that 67 percent of Fresno County business owners who participated in its annual Small Business Economic Survey are planning to relocate outside of California.
San Francisco may have cool startups and some of the biggest names in the technology business, but when compared with 11 other global cities with strong tech clusters, the city that is home to Silicon Valley under-performs in key metrics like business environment, quality of life and property prices, according to a new report by property consultants Savills .
Administration officials have estimated $1.7 billion in revenue from the fees by June 30, 2016, the end of the state’s next fiscal year. But legislative analysts say the state could rake in between $3.3 billion and $7.7 billion in that period.
Gov. Jerry Brown pleads with companies to stay in California, and scolds those that are leaving. He, too, recognizes the storm clouds over his state’s business climate. “We’ve got a few problems,” he conceded to an interviewer not long ago. “We have lots of little burdens and regulations and taxes.” But neither he nor the state legislature have plans to do anything about it. Until they do, only the brave, if not foolish, set up a business in California.
The labor dispute between West Coast ports and the longshormen’s union is having an effect on the California economy. Nick Vyas directs the Center for Global Supply Chain Management at the University of Southern California. He estimates California has lost between a half billion and a billion dollars since the port labor dispute began. And he says state leaders should take an active role in trying to end the dispute.
California water agencies are on track to satisfy a state mandate to reduce water consumption 20 percent by 2020. But according to their own projections, that savings won’t be enough to keep up with population growth just a decade later.
Slowly, quietly – but unmistakably – California’s education establishment is dismantling or softening state and federal testing-based “accountability” systems that were imposed on public schools more than a decade ago.
A flood of new TV shows could be filmed in Los Angeles this summer under new incentives being rushed through by the California Film Commission, which voted Thursday to try and speed up implementation of the television regulations in the state’s new production credit program . . .
Business owners today struggle to comply with the multitude of laws and regulations that apply to the employer-employee relationship. But what happens if you don’t comply? How are workplace laws and regulations enforced? Sometimes government agencies are involved in enforcement of such laws, but most often it is the employees themselves who take the lead. A new form of such claim is becoming more prevalent in California today – the “Private Attorney General” or “PAGA” lawsuit.
Businesses have long complained about the gross-receipts tax, both because its rates are higher than in other cities and because it’s a tax on top-line revenues, before operating expenses and other business costs are factored in. Several major business groups have called for the elimination of the tax altogether, a stance supported by a special city committee two years ago. The say dropping the tax would drive business investment in the city.
California manufacturers from food processors to apparel makers are warning costs will skyrocket if state regulators proceed with a plan to reduce their allocations of free greenhouse gas emission credits.
Tax proponents say that the November 2016 presidential election offers the last chance for a high turnout among voters who are likely to support a Proposition 30 tax extension before its sunset in 2018. Our most recent poll confirms this view.