California Legislative Session Ends With Higher Taxes, Anti-Trump and Union Priorities
California’s legislative session, which completed its work in the wee hours Saturday morning, was one of the more controversial ones in years, given the degree to which the Democratic majority was able to secure various tax and fee increases. It was also one of the more divisive recent sessions from a partisan standpoint. The most significant […]
CalPERS’ divestment goals in crosshairs as coal stocks soar
A newly released report from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System confirms that, fulfilling the Legislature’s directive to divest from coal-related investments, the pension fund has now largely exited from coal stocks. But as news reports this week suggest, this “socially responsible” investment policy has come at a price, as coal stocks soar under the Trump administration’s […]
Democrats and Republicans see different solutions to California housing crisis
Before the recent legislative recess, California Democratic leaders and Gov. Jerry Brown announced their intention to tackle one of the state’s biggest crises: housing affordability. It’s the rare instance where virtually everyone in the Capitol at least is in agreement about the scope of the problem, even though there’s far less agreement on solutions. Real-estate prices have […]
Is California Budget as ‘Balanced and Progressive’ as Gov. Brown Suggests?
The California Assembly and Senate have until Thursday to approve the budget deal announced by Gov. Jerry Brown last week, but there’s little uncertainty about the outcome. The general-fund budget is a record-setting $125 billion – something Brown describes as “balanced and progressive,” given that it spends more on social programs, but doesn’t bust the […]
Private Retirement Plan a Cover for Bloated Public Pensions
California’s Democratic leaders announced a “landmark deal” Monday to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022. Yet it may be overshadowed by another milestone from the same day. Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, announced that his “Landmark Retirement Security Program” is moving to the next step in the legislative process. The minimum-wage boost […]
Will Prop 13 “Reformers” Go After Homeowners?
Some of California’s politically powerful public-sector unions are gearing up for a 2016 ballot initiative that would “reform” Proposition 13 and get rid of its so-called tax “loopholes” to promote fairness. Their goal is to hike business property taxes by $9 billion a year by eliminating the limitations imposed by that groundbreaking initiative. And the latest evidence […]
Perks Pose Risk to All of Us
SACRAMENTO — The horrific Boston bombings have led to irrational calls for more security cameras and more police officers, with some Democrats absurdly using this tragedy to argue for halting the slight sequester-mandated cuts in federal spending growth. Never mind that police spending primarily is a local function. The bigger questions that Americans have rarely […]
California a Model for Other States?
SACRAMENTO — California’s modern-day progressive Democrats keep crowing about the huge success they’ve had in taming the state’s budget deficit, thanks to Proposition 30‘s tax increases and other “reforms,” and now are championing the Jerry Brown model as a blueprint for the nation. Is that realistic? It’s one thing that other states have to deal […]
10 Predictions for California 2013
SACRAMENTO — California’ Democratic leaders are giddy about the future now that they have gained everything they wanted in the last election — voter-approved tax increases and a two-thirds supermajority in both houses of the Legislature, thus rendering Republicans little more than an annoying irrelevancy that can no longer block tax hikes. Will Democrats just ramp up the […]
Fighting Crime & Overspending
SACRAMENTO — For advocates of less-intrusive government, finding the good news in the recent election is like looking on the bright side after your house has been wiped out by a hurricane: You never did like that floor plan, anyway, and this seems like a great opportunity to rethink your lifestyle. The political storm was […]