The Sacramento City Council vote to place a tax increase on the November ballot is representative of what we’ll see around the state in many localities: a call for more taxes to maintain basic services when in reality the money is needed to meet pension obligations. In one sense the argument that the money is […]
Anyone concerned about the future of the state and local budgets should pay particular attention to what the state’s non-partisan legislative analyst had to say about Proposition 10, the ballot measure that repeals the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, including protections for tenants and single-family home owners. The Legislative Analysts Office (LA) noted Prop 10 could […]
In January 2012 California Governor Jerry Brown announced he would ask California voters to approve temporary increases in income and sales taxes. Later that year his proposal was embodied in Proposition 30. Projected by the Legislative Analysts Office to raise $6 billion per year for four years and smaller amounts for three years (ie, $42 […]
The California Supreme Court issued a decision on April 30, 2018 in Dynamex Operations West Inc. v. Superior Court which significantly changed the standard for determining independent contractor versus employee status in California. The state’s business community is deeply troubled by this court decision and believes that the Legislature needs to urgently consider a bill […]
For example, when likely voters were asked by PPIC if California’s efforts to reduce global warming would create or reduce jobs, a resounding 51% said more jobs would come, 19% answered fewer jobs. Democratic voters were major supporters of this notion by a 68% to 7% margin. Meanwhile, Republicans were not as convinced with 25% […]
A famous quote from Virgil’s Aenid 5.231, says, “They can, because they think they can,” comes to mind over the recent headline by the San Francisco Chronicle, “California slashes emissions, hits major greenhouse gas goals years early.” The California Air Resources Board (CARB) on June 11th released data showing California’s greenhouse gas emissions, “dropped 2.7 […]
Yes, California has much to celebrate. We are home to the most formidable tech companies on the planet with half of the world’s tech billionaires living in Silicon Valley. State coffers bulge with historic budget surpluses fed by unprecedented revenues. Our economy enjoys utopian levels of unemployment and is ranked as the world’s 5th largest. […]
As anticipated here after the hearing on California’s sanctuary state laws were argued in federal court, Judge John A. Mendez offered a split decision upholding the state’s ability to establish sanctuary laws but halting the state’s power to punish businesses for cooperating with federal immigration authorities. The Trump Administration filed suit against three California laws […]
Much of the discussion around the proposed deal to remove an initiative requiring a two-thirds vote on all local taxes centers on the motives of the soda industry to avoid taxes on soda but there is another side to that coin that has received little attention. Local governments and unions opposed to the initiative want […]
The state of California already sitting on a record surplus would benefit from an additional revenue windfall thanks to two decisions handed down by the United States Supreme Court. The question is what would the state do with that new money? Initial estimates following the Supreme Court’s decision allowing taxing of Internet sales is that […]
OUSD will get much worse. School budgets in California are supposed to be extra healthy during bull markets, when tax revenues swell from capital gains. But the other side of that coin is that California schools are expected to suffer financial distress during bear markets when capital gains decline. If OUSD is in trouble in […]
At his latest state budget press conference, Gov. Jerry Brown made it clear there will be no state cavalry riding to the rescue of local governments battling the pension monsters local officials created. Therefore, taxpayers will have to be on guard against a potential avalanche of tax measures that could appear to deal with the […]
Job growth in California has been robust since the last recession. But recently that growth has slowed because of the lack of employable workers. The projected shortage of skilled workers in the state through 2030 is more than a million graduates with bachelor’s degrees as well as hundreds of thousands of workers with two-year associate’s […]
This pro-solar decision will cause California to suffer the same fate as Germany and Denmark. Since California’s solar-energy build-out began in 2011, energy prices have risen 24 percent. Abigail Ross Hopper, the Solar Energy Industries Association’s CEO believes this a positive, momentous decision by California when he stated: “California has long been our nation’s biggest […]
In recent years, policymakers have increasingly aligned with advocacy groups pushing for one-track solutions to climate change, like 100 percent renewable electricity or all-electric buildings. Two weeks ago, Assembly Bill 3232 – legislation that aims to electrify homes and businesses in the state – passed through the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee with little fanfare. […]