Buoyed by California’s strong economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom sent state lawmakers a revised budget on Thursday that boosts his already-hefty January proposal to $213.6 billion. Ka-ching! Public schools will reap most of the gains if the Democratic-controlled Legislature rolls with him. Newsom also upped his ante on the housing crisis with a proposed $1 billion […]
Last year’s big tax cut is about to start shrinking. The Internal Revenue Service on Thursday announced the tax code’s parameters for 2019, implementing a new method for making inflation adjustments that will result in higher tax payments—and government revenue—over time. The shift will cost Americans $133.5 billion over a decade, according to Congress’s Joint […]
Germany’s worst industrial scandal in recent memory arrived when auto companies fiddled with emissions tests to make diesel cars seem greener than they are. Now a new study suggests that electric cars touted as a diesel alternative also aren’t so great for the environment. A study this month by the IFO think tank in Munich […]
A controversial bill that would force California cities to allow denser housing around public transit cleared a major hurdle today, but only after its sponsor agreed to go easier on smaller-sized counties. Senate Bill 50, from Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, passed out of a key legislative committee after it was amended to […]
Seth Frotman was traveling from the East Coast to California recently when he had a realization: The amount of new student loan debt that borrowers in the Golden State had racked up over the past year was equal to all the student loan debt in the state of Maine. Frotman spent years dealing with the […]
Investors who bet on the rapid growth of electric vehicles in China are getting a shock. Umicore , UMICY -0.83% a big player in the electric-vehicle supply chain, issued a profit warning Tuesday, sending its stock down 15%. The Chinese government cut subsidies for electric vehicles by more than expected last month, and Umicore is […]
Jabil Inc., a manufacturer for tech giants like Apple Inc., is closing one of its Silicon Valley sites and laying off or transferring hundreds of local employees as business slows. The St. Petersburg, Florida-based electronics manufacturer and contractor is closing its Silver Creek facility in San Jose, affecting 298 total employees, the company confirmed to […]
A proposed California soda tax is dead for the year after the lawmaker running the bill announced Monday it’s being held in committee for the rest of 2019. Assemblyman Richard Bloom said his proposed 2 cent per fluid ounce tax on sugary drinks will become a “two-year bill,” meaning it could be taken up again […]
Between 2000 and 2015, as housing prices rose, historically Black cities and neighborhoods across the region lost thousands of low-income Black households. These areas include the Bayview in San Francisco, flatland neighborhoods in Oakland and Berkeley, and the cities of East Palo Alto, Richmond, and Vallejo. Low-income Asian and Latinx households decreased in several neighborhoods […]
Once again, PPIC tested the value of Proposition 13 with voters. And, once again likely voters declared Prop 13 worthy. Asked if Proposition 13 was mostly a good or a bad thing, 64% of likely voters said it was a good thing, only 24% responded it was mostly bad. The margin was larger than the […]
As the Janus case (which ultimately would give public employees a choice whether or not to pay money to a union as a condition of employment) was headed to the Supreme Court, many unions saw the writing on the wall and cooked up “trap language” schemes. This chicanery only allows dissenting workers to quit a […]
The problem, according to Youngblood, is who isn’t eligible: part-time students, who make up more than two thirds of the community college population. While research shows students taking 12 units or more per semester are more likely to earn a degree or certificate, Youngblood says many low-income students are simply too busy working to handle […]
A senior aide to a former mayor of Atlanta collapses on a courtroom floor after hearing that she is headed to prison. F.B.I. agents in Los Angeles haul away computers and documents during a raid of a veteran councilman’s office. News cameras trail the most powerful alderman in Chicago as he walks to court to […]
To show the importance of acting quickly, the report to the Legislature will have a calculation of where CalSTRS funding would be if the rate increases enacted in 2014 had been promptly adopted after the 2008-09 financial crisis. “If we had been able to raise the rates, we would now be about 70 percent funded […]
Green New Dealers reckon the secret lies in making the economy both greener and more equitable. Their plan remains ill-defined, though Democrats are expected to release draft legislation that may provide more details soon. But its primary aims are clear. It proposes a move to 100% clean and renewable energy within a decade or two, […]