SACRAMENTO — The Senate Governance and Finance Committee on Wednesday passed six constitutional amendments to make it easier for local voters to pass various tax increases on property owners. “California didn’t knowingly vote for centralized power,” said Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, speaking about the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, as she opened the committee [...]
Politics makes strange bedfellows. This we know to be true, but Latinos and Republicans should not be. Many demographers predict Republicans will steadily pick up Latino voters as Latino assimilation increases, and Latinos succeed economically. But one area is a natural for Republicans — education. Many Latino voters say education is a leading issue for them, [...]
Citing a lack of civil rights and social inequities as what is wrong with California public schools, Gov. Jerry Brown vowed Wednesday at a Capitol press conference to give more money to the K-12 school districts that serve poorer students and English-language learners. Brown said state funding needs to balance social equity and restore school funding [...]
At the California Democratic Party Convention this past weekend, Democrats killed efforts led by other Democrats to call for much needed public school reforms. Convention delegates even passed a resolution slamming education reform groups like Students First and Democrats for Education Reform, claiming they are merely front groups for Republicans and Wall Street money. The stark [...]
In 2012, the state Legislature passed 80 budget “spot” bills — empty bills with no details. Such measures just sit on a shelf and await last-minute bill language, then are put forward for late-night passage on the last day of the budget session. These are often the most controversial bills of each session. When lawmakers use [...]
Big spending on California politics has become one of the state’s largest industries. But the return on investment is lousy. California’s political system has become so heavily manipulated by labor unions and other big money interests that the system is broken. Legislators have become professional fundraisers instead of managing public policy. And the individual voter [...]
While I am an eternal optimist, it is impossible to ignore that California is bleeding jobs. I am also a realist. Unfortunately for the Golden State, California’s leaders and lawmakers continue to ignore the facts, and instead continue to push through the same failed policies of higher taxes, more fees, and more regulations — continually [...]
The State of California has a serious backlog of new business filings, so says Secretary of State Debra Bowen. “Secretary of State Debra Bowen is concerned about the backlog, said spokeswoman Shannan Velayas, and intends to replace the current paper filing system with an online process akin to that used by the California DMV for vehicle registrations [...]
While small businesses across the nation created 20,000 new jobs this month, California lost small business jobs, according to Intuit Payroll’s Small Business Index. The Intuit Small Business Employment Index is a measure of employment for businesses with fewer than 20 employees. This month, eleven states showed job gains, two remained flat, and 20 showed declines. [...]
SACRAMENTO — “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” from the Broadway musical Gypsy, should be Gov. Jerry Brown’s new theme song. His 2013-14 budget proposal, released last Thursday, was full of happy news, good times a projected balanced budget and an upcoming surplus. Clear the decks! Clear the tracks! You’ve got nothing to do but relax. Blow a [...]
