“This tentative agreement would be a start and would provide some monetary relief for state scientists,” said CAPS Vice President and Bargaining Chair Patty Velez in a statement issued late Friday. “But it still falls well short of closing the huge salary gap between scientists and their engineering counterparts at the state, as well as scientists at the local level and in the private sector.”
The state Department of Education will release initial results of “Smarter Balance” tests aligned with Common Core standards in English and math next week, and the results are widely expected to show huge shortfalls in what kids have learned.
California growers took in more revenue in 2014 compared to the year before, although their profits declined by about 10 percent, according to new figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service and the Pacific Institute, a water policy think-tank.
The plan would generate $3.6 billion annually while offering the type of regulatory relief Republicans want. That total falls billions short of the $6 billion annually sought by the Fix Our Roads coalition that includes groups representing businesses, cities and counties.
In its first months, California’s expanded film and TV production tax credit has prompted producers of four out-of-state TV shows to decamp for the Golden State, according to the state’s film office.
The legislation does not spell out how the state will achieve that level of petroleum reduction. Instead, it maintains the California Air Resources Board’s existing, broad authority over vehicle emissions and fuel standards. And it does not call for an “up or down” vote on ARB regulations.
It’s time to dust it off again because the Capitol seems to be infested with voodoo economics these days – logic- and fact-deficient assertions about the seemingly magical economic effects of politicians’ pet causes.
The incredible innovation we are seeing in Silicon Valley and other parts of the state is due in large part to smart policy that supports a healthy environment and the economy. SB 32 will provide the long-term policy certainty to help spur even more innovation, investment and job creation. Companies will have the confidence to continue developing new technologies and business models.
More than 300,000 elderly Californians are officially poor, as measured by the federal government, but their numbers triple to more than 1 million when the “hidden poor” are counted, according to a new study from UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research.
If you drive a car, gas prices will be higher. If you want to buy a house, you very likely could be priced out of the market. Small business owners will have to raise prices in order to cover the increases in gas and delivery charges. In some cases, small businesses may have to close up shop all together, which would be the worst consequence – intended or not.
Some of those same stakeholders are involved in SB 350, and we’re once again getting their bland assurances that it will be a win-win, without adverse effects. But as with that 1996 electric power bill, the devil is in the details, and those details are once again being written behind closed doors without a full explanation of their real-world impacts
Results for some of the states that participated in Common Core-aligned testing for the first time this spring are out, with overall scores higher than expected though still below what many parents may be accustomed to seeing.
The ACLU’s report suggests that districts are ignoring the LCFF law and diverting billions of extra dollars meant to help poor kids who desperately need a boost.
But the massive industry shutdown seven years ago that sent workers scattering is having a residual effect. Builders are having a hard time bringing those workers back. They cite several reasons: Many of those laid-off workers retired during the recession or “aged out” of the more physically demanding trades. Some took up other jobs and are reluctant to re-enter the industry, fearful the bottom might fall out again. Still others are commuting to work in the Bay Area, where the home-construction market is hotter.
Interests with a stake in better roads will put forward their principles this morning. The approach includes higher taxes on gas and diesel fuels and higher vehicle fees to generate an estimated $6 billion in additional money for state and local road maintenance and improving corridors that enhance trade, such as those to ports.