Black Bart Award Nominee: Darrell Steinberg
Senate president pro tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John Perez came into their last two years as legislative leaders with a full head of steam behind a supermajority control of the legislature and new revenues because of the success of Prop 30. Managing these new found riches in both party votes and taxpayer gold […]
California Office Pool 2014
This marks the fifth annual version of the California Office Pool. It was inspired by the late, great New York Times columnist William Safire, who made a habit of writing a year-end column he called Office Pool. In it, Safire offered, multiple-choice style, a series of possible news events that could take place in the […]
Tell Us Something We Don’t Know – California Is Still a Judicial Hellhole
If you’re wondering what that smell is, it’s not chestnuts roasting on an open fire. It’s fire and brimstone, because California has been named the nation’s worst judicial hellhole in the nation for the second consecutive year. In the annual edition of its Judicial Hellholes Report, the American Tort Reform Association ranked California number one, followed […]
Poll: Reed’s Pension Measure Unpopular With Voters
For all the political chatter about pensions, California voters remain strongly opposed to gutting the retirement benefits of teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public employees. According to a new statewide poll conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based GarinHartYoung Research Group, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed’s proposed ballot measure that gives cities the ability to slash […]
New Normal of California Employment in 2014; Presents from Mr. Peguese
The New Normal of California Employment in 2014 will see a continuation of the steady payroll job growth we’ve seen since early 2010, as well as a continuation of the trend of part-time and contingent employment and independent contracting, replacing full time employment with benefits. Wage inequality will have a heightened profile in California, though […]