California typically has gasoline prices higher than the rest of the nation but the gap has been wider than usual, particularly in Southern California, because of troubles with refineries, according to some analysts.
But in this state we’ve got a widely abused law called the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. And labor is one of its biggest abusers, contributing to California’s reputation as a lousy place to invest and do business.
Millions of workers who dropped out of the job market during the last economic slump were supposed to jump back in once things turned around. But more than six years after the Great Recession ended, the missing millions are increasingly looking like they’re gone for good..
Korean businesses represent at least a third of those in the downtown garment district, generating at least $10 billion in annual revenues, according to the Korean American Apparel Manufacturers Association. But now some Korean apparel makers are considering moving to El Paso, the Los Angeles Times reports. They say the hike in the minimum wage here and strict labor laws are mainly to blame for their desire to relocate. El Paso has fewer regulations, cheaper rent and an abundance of skilled laborers.
California taxpayers have never paid more for public worker pensions, but it’s still not enough to cover the rising number of retirement checks written by the state’s largest pension plan..
Gov. Jerry Brown is working on an ambitious plan for transmitting electricity across state lines and bolstering California’s role in the region, according to energy officials.
“It does not look at the rest of the economy — how much this will cost, what other jobs will be lost as energy costs increase, and what jobs will be lost as consumers pay more for energy and housing and less for other purchases,” said Rob Lapsley, the organization’s president.
The increase was greater than the 4.5% year-over-year pop seen nationally and represents a slight pick-up from May’s reading, when prices rose 6.2% in the two counties, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index showed.
More than most states, California depends heavily on taxing the wealthy, pulling about half its income tax revenue from just 1% of residents in recent years. A sustained, significant fall in capital gains could mean a return to budget crises, and the turmoil on Wall Street is a reminder of that vulnerability.
Hundreds of Californians with household incomes of $500,000 or more have collected state subsidies for buying electric and hybrid cars under a program that is criticized as a taxpayer handout to the wealthy.
The California unemployment rate fell to 6.2% in July — its lowest level in more than seven years — and employers added a robust 80,700 net new jobs.
In a propitious sign for Los Angeles’ production sector, one of Hollywood’s largest prop houses is reopening six years after it shut down.
Nearly two years later, the utility announced Monday that it would credit or refund tens of millions of dollars to customers who were overbilled during the botched rollout, under a proposed class-action lawsuit settlement between the utility and aggrieved customers.
Business groups opposed the bill, arguing that it would force a company to keep its predecessor’s employees and adhere to contracts that the new owner did not negotiate. The California Chamber of Commerce labeled the measure, AB 359, a “job killer.”
The luxury car company will establish Southern California’s first new car manufacturing plant in more than two decades in the city of Moreno Valley, where it will begin building its plug-in electric hybrid automobiles.