No Trigger in GOP Tax Plan—Like CA Once Had
The U.S. Senate passed a tax bill Saturday morning but not before shunting aside the idea of setting a “trigger” to raise taxes if economic growth did not provide enough revenues to avert a growing budget deficit. The idea of a “trigger” to deal with an unsolved deficit was once adopted by the California legislature, […]
How far can Democrats go to help unions?
Undeniably, California’s dominant Democratic Party is joined at the hip with labor unions, even though scarcely a sixth of the state’s workers belong to unions. Unsurprisingly, therefore, Democratic politicians push laws and regulations to help unions expand their memberships. They are motivated, they say, by their belief that workers’ lives are improved by union representation. […]
Tax Reform and the 2018 CA Elections
The tax reform plan that is on the road to passing Congress sets up an interesting dynamic for the 2018 elections in California. Democrats will argue that those Republican congress members who voted for the tax plan and ended deductions raised taxes on many Californians. On the other hand most state Democrats will be protecting […]
2018 Brings Yet Another Minimum Wage Hike
Just like earlier this year, because of the enactment of SB 3 (Leno) in 2016, California’s minimum wage is going up again. On January 1, 2018, the state’s minimum wage will be increased for all sizes of businesses as “small employers” will see their first wage hike in recent years. Under prior state law, the […]
California needs a great villain
It’s hard to find a villain who can bring Californians together. That’s why Charlie Manson’s death produced so many media remembrances. Manson represented the time, a half-century ago, when Californians shared more experiences—even fear of the Manson Family. Today, we’re too polarized to agree on who is the bad guy. Academically, we prefer to blame […]
Realtors’ initiative could boost home sales, limit property taxes
Property-tax-limiting Proposition 13 has long been viewed as the “third rail” of California politics given its continued popularity among the home-owning electorate. Public-sector unions occasionally talk about sponsoring an initiative to eliminate its tax limits for commercial properties, but the latest Prop. 13-related proposal would actually expand its scope. The influential California Association of Realtors is launching a signature […]
An Oddity in the PPIC Poll: Republicans for De León
The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) released its latest poll on California political races and ballot issues with few surprises—with one exception. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León leads U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein among Republican voters who have made up their mind. De León’s margin over Feinstein is 25% to 18% with 55% […]
Gas Tax Boost Is Smaller Than the Backlash
The gas tax is a perfect distillation of what’s wrong with Gov. Brown’s small ball politics. He pursued a policy that’s too small, and too safe. On a policy matter, it doesn’t produce much. It produces revenues that aren’t enough to do more than make a small dent in the state’s infrastructure needs. But politically […]
Stop Adding Labor Laws
If you build a 1,000 square foot home, and add a room, and then another, and add a floor, and another floor, what will happen? The home will collapse because the foundation was not built for such a big house. This is what has happened to the 1,039 page Labor Law digest 2017 edition, and […]