California, a world leader in wind energy development in the 1980s and 1990s, now ranks behind Texas in wind power capacity and industry jobs, according to the Washington, D.C.-based American Wind Energy Association.
California’s tax revenues jumped by 18.2 percent in 2013, thanks to an improving economy and the impact of a temporary sales and income tax increase approved by voters, a new Census Bureau report shows.
Californians carried the nation’s fourth highest state and local tax burden in 2011, the Tax Foundation says in a new report, largely because its personal incomes are markedly lower than those of other high-tax states.
CalSTRS said Thursday that its long-term funding shortfall has risen to $73.7 billion, a stark reminder of the financial issues facing the teachers’ pension fund.
An Assembly resolution against government contracting is drawing fire from local governments and business groups for what they contend is a pledge against giving work to outside interests.
Teens and young adults traditionally have struggled much more to find work than their older counterparts. But a new Brookings Institution report shows the road to employment for young job seekers nationwide and here in Sacramento during the 2000s has been especially rocky.
California’s economy is recovering from its worst recession since the Great Depression – no doubt about that.
But its recovery is very slow, very geographically and socioeconomically uneven, and exacerbates the decline of a once-vibrant middle class and the evolution of a distinctly two-tiered society.
So it came as a punch to the gut when Tesla Motors Inc., one of the few bright spots in California manufacturing, announced two weeks ago that it plans to build a “gigafactory” in some Western state not named California.
Unlike wealthier state residents who more easily can afford the new, often more comprehensive plans, or lower-income people aided by government subsidies, the LaPollas are part of a sizable segment of Californians slowly coming to grips with dedicating a greater percentage of their income to new policies.
In a far-ranging assessment of how much California pays its help, a nonpartisan report on Tuesday said the state government will spend a half-billion dollars more on employee compensation next year, but most workers’ take-home wages will continue to lag behind inflation.
Federal officials announced Friday that the ongoing drought in California means there likely will be no water available for agricultural water customers in the Central Valley this year, including its customers in the Sacramento Valley.
Overall, in another sign that California’s economy is shaking off the recession, state tax officials reported Tuesday that the statewide median income – for 2012 – was $70,938, up 4.1 percent over the previous year. That’s for those filing joint tax returns. For individual returns, the 2012 median income was $35,910, an increase of 3.5 percent, according to the state Franchise Tax Board.
Gov. Jerry Brown said today that California is continuing its “comeback,” with a budget surplus and am improving economy, but he urged the Legislature to restrain spending.
When Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled his proposed 2014-15 budget this month – one based on estimates of sharply increased state revenues – a reporter asked him whether, in retrospect, California needed the tax increase he had persuaded voters to approve in 2012.
Brown’s response, in essence, was that the tax boost’s money is needed to pay off the debts that the state had incurred, not only for past budget deficits, but for long-term future obligations that total about $350 billion.
The Los Angeles 2020 Commission, created by the City Council, didn’t mince words in its report, “A Time for Truth,” declaring, “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.”