Business and Jobs Task Force Quits Ahead of Likely Additional Business and Job Closures
It is more than ironic that the governor’s Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery closed down just as businesses and workers face the prospect of more restrictions and closures with a surge of the coronavirus. The task force was introduced with great fanfare in April but ended with a press release on Friday, the […]
CalChamber poll (Part 1): Voters serious about addressing pandemic consequences
Californians are taking the Covid-19 pandemic seriously, and expect their elected leaders to do the same. The sixth annual CalChamber poll, The People’s Voice, 2020, found that voters are keenly aware of the widespread effects of the pandemic. Nearly half of all voters have suffered an economic impact: reduced work hours, lost job, pay cut, […]
Enough Dead to Fill Forest Lawn
If you’re having a hard time processing the scale of death produced by the COVID-19 pandemic, here’s a California alternative for wrapping your mind around the carnage: Visit the largest, prettiest cemetery you can find. I recommend the original Forest Lawn, in Glendale, the most Californian of cemeteries. I recently walked the 290 acres of […]
Revenue windfall creates political dilemma
As Gov. Gavin Newsom makes the final decisions on writing a 2021-22 budget, he’s receiving some good revenue news from his beancounters. During the first four months of the 2020-21 budget cycle, which began on July 1, state general fund revenues were more than $11 billion higher than the apocalyptic estimates on which the budget […]