On Friday, amid California’s driest year on record, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency in the state. As days pass without snow or rain, dairymen, farmers and other livestock producers are finding themselves in the same predicament as Imhof. Without water to irrigate, produce growers fear they will have to leave some fields fallow.
San Joaquin Valley farmers are idling thousands of acres, bulldozing hundreds of trees and shifting production of some crops out of the area as the state enters its third straight year of dry weather.
With California facing water shortfalls in the driest year in recorded state history, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today proclaimed a State of Emergency and directed state officials to take all necessary actions to prepare for these drought conditions.
Democrats in California needed to pass cap and trade to find out what’s in it. At least that’s the take-away from state Senate president Darrell Steinberg’s epiphany in the Los Angeles Times this week.
The number of permits requested to make porn films in Los Angeles County has declined by an estimated 95% since the law took effect, according to Film LA, a private nonprofit that issues the licenses. The number of applications fell from about 480 in 2012 to just 24 through the first nine months of 2013.
The EU’s reputation as a model of environmental responsibility may soon be history. The European Commission wants to forgo ambitious climate protection goals and pave the way for fracking — jeopardizing Germany’s touted energy revolution in the process.
. . . San Francisco and Houston are North America’s “emerging” global cities. They are also rival representative champions and exemplars of two models of civic development. San Francisco is the world’s technology capital; focused on the highest levels of the economic food chain; paragon of the new, intangible economy; and promoter environmental values and compact development. Houston is the closest thing to American laissez-faire; unabashed embracer of the old economy of tangible stuff, including unfashionable, but highly profitable, industries like oil, chemicals, and shipping.
On-location production in feature films and TV dramas in L.A. has dropped significantly due to increasing competition from other states and countries, according to a report released Tuesday.
The National Federation of Independent Business’ monthly index of small business indicators gained 1.4 points in December to hit 93.9. That’s back to where it was this summer, but 6 points below the pre-recession average, according to NFIB.
An upcoming economic report predicts Sacramento will see modest job growth largely confined to the service sector job in 2014. Added pressure will be on hospitals due to implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and builders will continue to be hit by a cooling of the home purchasing frenzy that occurred within the last couple of years.
The economic forecasts were prepared in November 2013 by the California Department of Finance for the Governor’s Proposed Budget.
Tables: http://www.dof.ca.gov/HTML/FS_DATA/LatestEconData/FS_Forecasts.htm
The state’s fiscal history is riddled with budgets that made permanent obligations— both spending increases and tax cuts — based on temporary revenue increases. After these spikes in revenues disappeared — as they always do— the state was forced to cut programs and raise taxes. This Budget seeks to avoid this unproductive boom‑and‑bust cycle. Instead of using one‑time revenues to spend on permanent programs, it instead uses that money to make the state’s first deposit into its Rainy Day Fund since 2007, repay money owed to our schools, pay off the Economic Recovery Bonds sold to balance the budget in 2004, and make one‑time investments to shore up the state’s aging infrastructure. This Budget also proposes a constitutional amendment to strengthen California’s Rainy Day Fund so we can pay off our longer term liabilities and be prepared for any future decreases in revenue.
Los Angeles is barely treading water while the rest of the world is moving forward. We risk falling further behind in adapting to the realities of the 21st century and becoming a City in decline.
January 8, 2014 marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s declaration of an unconditional War on Poverty, made during his 1964 State of the Union address. Although poverty remains a reality for millions of Californians, the last half-century has shown the key role that public policies can play in reducing poverty and fostering economic security. With state policymakers set to begin crafting a new state budget, this Budget Brief looks at poverty in the Golden State and discusses some ways that policymakers can help reduce economic hardship and expand pathways to opportunity and advancement.
This summary report on the 2013 Summit lays out the background behind the Summit and gives a roundup of Summit commitments, a collection of some of the best thinking from across the state about how to drive sustainable economic growth in California.