Is It Going Too Well For Jerry?
As 2014 gets underway, Jerry Brown has succeeded to such a degree politically that he has a problem: things are going too well. Brown’s political success has been built on political minimalism and diminished expectations. While officially taking on the idea that the state is ungovernable and that the budget is broken, he’s actually embraced […]
Another Controversial Initiative Summary
Did Attorney General Kamala Harris read the memo supplied by pollsters who conducted a union sponsored poll on the pension reform initiative? As the Sacramento Bee reported last month, the Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group suggested some messages that would bury the pension reform initiative. The group emphasized that the use of the word “eliminate” in reference to […]
Proposition 13 – It’s A Wonderful Life
(Editor’s Note: David R. Doerr recently published a lengthy commentary on Prop 13 in the Cal Tax Report. The following is a summary. To read the full commentary, click here.) A split roll would mean a return to the unfair ad valorem tax system for locally assessed business real property, improvements and fixtures, including a reintroduction of […]
The Job Gold Rush in San Francisco: Can It Be Replicated Elsewhere?
Comstock’s magazine in Sacramento reports this week on the Sacramento-based construction businesses that are flocking to projects in the Bay Area, especially San Francisco. This report continues a long line of articles over the past few months on San Francisco’s white-hot economy and job market. The local unemployment rate is down to 5.2%, building cranes […]
How Will Brown Budget Proposal Address Pensions, Taxes, Debt?
California’s budget battles will begin on Friday when Gov. Jerry Brown releases his proposal for fiscal year 2014-15, which begins on July 1. The media and political buzz in the Capitol building is that the state has a surplus — and maybe voters even are ready for higher taxes. “We now find that California’s state budget […]