Proponents would pound on providing more money for schools, which, polling tells us, are the most popular thing that government does. That was the theme of two successful ballot measures that raised income taxes on the wealthiest Californians in 2012 and 2016, and in fact per pupil spending has increased by 66 percent in the […]
Mortgage rates hit a four-year high late last week, and it’s looking like the years of ultra-low-cost home loans are coming to an end, experts said. “I would say this has been a long time coming,” said Dan Starelli, head of Guild Mortgage in Sacramento. “We’ve had interest rates dropping for decades. I think we […]
Last year, we speculated that our region’s ability to sustain its post-recession growth may be eroding. This year’s update of selected indicators strengthen the case for concern. The region’s innovation industries experienced strong growth in 2016, but substantially lower than that of 2015. More people are now moving out than moving into our prosperous but […]
Recently, a prominent periodical hailed last year’s housing legislation as a marvelous thing – that with it will soon come the end of California’s housing crisis. Similar statements have been made in the few months following the Governor’s signature – including by the Governor himself – on the passage of several new “housing” bills. “In […]
Next year, it’s possible that the region that likes to think of itself as the most progressive place in the country will have zero black state legislators and zero black mayors of major cities. . . . Part of the reason why is a precipitous drop in the region’s black population. According to census data […]
In effect, SB 1014 would force low income drivers into an unwinnable scenario in which they would be compelled to make a choice between plowing themselves into debt by purchasing a new vehicle, spending more than they otherwise would on a used conventional vehicle to purchase a used ZEV that effectively limits their ability to […]
In today’s highly competitive housing market, finding an affordable home can feel increasingly out of reach, especially for singles. A single homebuyer would need to save for nearly 11 years to reach a 20 percent down payment on the typical U.S. home, according to a new Zillow® analysis. However, for married or partnered couples, it […]
Celebrity endorsements aside, there’s an increasingly pervasive feeling among those of us who actually live here that the California dream is just harder than it used to be. A recent USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll found that only 17 percent of Californians believe the state’s current generation is doing better than previous ones. More than […]
California has the highest state-level sales tax rate, at 7.25 percent. Four states tie for the second-highest statewide rate, at 7 percent: Indiana, Mississippi, Rhode Island, and Tennessee. The lowest non-zero, state-level sales tax is in Colorado, which has a rate of 2.9 percent. Five states follow with 4 percent rates: Alabama, Georgia, Hawaii, New […]
U.S. producer prices rose in January, the latest sign of building inflation pressure in the economy. The producer-price index, a measure of the prices businesses charge for their goods and services, rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in January from a month earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday. From a year earlier, producer prices advanced 2.7% […]
The consumer-price index, which measures what Americans pay for everything from salad dressing to fares on public transportation, rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in January, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, so-called core prices rose 0.3%. That was above economists’ expectations for a 0.4% rise in consumer prices, and […]
Nearly 43,000 people have filed applications to join a waiting list for subsidized housing in Sacramento, officials said Wednesday. By Tuesday night’s deadline, 42,913 people had entered the lottery for 7,000 slots on the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency’s waiting list for the Housing Choice Voucher Program, formerly known as Section 8. The SHRA started […]
The majority leader of the California State Assembly has introduced a bill that would, as written, impose jail sentences of up to six months if a restaurant worker hands out a single unsolicited plastic straw. . . . But repercussions have already spread beyond California, complicating a national movement to eliminate drinking straws. A report […]
Environmental advocates in California who successfully pushed for a ban on single-use plastic bags have expanded their fight against plastic waste, targeting straws and bottle caps and calling on the state to increase the amount of recycled material in plastic water and soda bottles. The efforts face stiff opposition from the beverage and plastic industries, […]
Real estate listing firm Redfin reported this week that 4,101 more users of its service looked to buy a home in Sacramento than Sacramentans looked to buy homes elsewhere in the last three months of 2017 – the largest potential net inflow of new residents to any region in the United States. The top region […]