Budget Compromise Fails to Address Major State Obligations
Recently, Governor Jerry Brown reached a new labor agreement with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1000 that gives 95,000 state employees a 4.5% pay raise beginning in mid-2014. This comes on the heels of a budget compromise between the Governor and Legislative Democrats that is being touted as “conservative” and “balanced”. Under the […]
Green Greed: When Grocers Become the Willing Taxman
It’s been only two weeks since the statewide effort to ban plastic bags in California failed miserably in the California State Senate and already the Golden State environmentalists are at it again. A newly proposed ordinance in the City of Los Angeles would outlaw plastic bags across the city, while levying a heavy 10-cent usage […]
Why Apple Inc. Remains Popular in California
California’s most valuable company – Apple Inc. – has been taking flak lately from the halls of Congress to the capitals of Europe over reports that the consumer electronics giant manages its business to minimize the corporate income taxes it pays to the U.S. and foreign governments. But you’re not likely to hear too many […]
Sound Bites and the Law of Unintended Consequences: “Buy America” Needs Rethinking
“Three strikes and you’re out”—baseball terminology used to determine the standard for sending someone to prison, and prison overcrowding that is one of its by-products. “No child left behind”—a federal program on education that failed to deliver. “Affordable Care Act”—not looking too affordable these days as family health costs escalate double and triple digits just […]
The Browning of the State’s Economy
Originally ran in The Sacramento Business Journal on June 7, 2013 Small businesses are the lifeblood of California’s economy, supporting almost 80 percent of jobs within the state. However, they are also the most vulnerable — and in some ways the most unappreciated — sector of the economy. They are less capable of absorbing increased […]