Prudent Budget Proposed by Governor
Balanced budget. No new taxes. Rainy day reserve. Debt repayment. These are phrases rarely associated with California¹s fiscal outlook. But economics and politics have intervened to apply those phrases to today¹s circumstances. Governor Brown proposed a fiscal plan in January that harvests the fruits of the state¹s economic recovery, and mostly reinvests right back into […]
Economic Recovery Means a Top-Heavy Income Tax
As California’s economy continues to improve, it’s getting more crowded at the top. The share of taxes being paid on ever higher income tax collections is concentrating even more the share of taxes on upper income taxpayers. This is even before 2012’s Proposition 30 tax increase. According to recently-released, but still dated, statistics from Franchise […]
New Economic Development Tax Incentive Should Be On The Fast Track
California’s economic development programs have lately been a work in progress – just as these efforts need to shift into overdrive. No time like a recovering economy to put our best foot forward. State government has focused the last couple years on structure: creating a new economic development agency, opening our first new foreign trade […]
State Revenue Boom Means Time for a Rainy Reserve
The state budget hasn’t been very newsworthy for the past year, which is good news. A big voter-approved tax increase plus a stingy Governor plus a modest economic recovery has put what was a perennial fiscal crisis in the rear view mirror. Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor yesterday confirmed this trend – and then some. Citing […]
New Boeing Line in California? We Can Do It.
It may be a longshot – but it’s worth the shot. The venerable Boeing aircraft assembly plant in Long Beach apparently is in the running to build the new generation 777X jetliner. Just the prospect of this development is astonishing, given that the plant had recently rolled off the line the final C-17 built for […]
New Rules for the Rulemakers
This week marks a small but significant change in how state regulators must justify and develop major new regulations. Beginning November 1, state agencies proposing a major new regulation must undertake a rigorous economic analysis, ultimately geared toward helping the Administration determine which regulatory alternative will be most effective at the least cost to meet […]
The Initiative Doesn’t Need Reform, It IS Reform
The people’s initiative power has commenced its second century amidst strong public support and reformers’ continuing itch to tweak it. The latest entry in the initiative improvement sweepstakes is from the Public Policy Institute of California, whose president, Mark Baldassare, has proposed several recommendations – in the name of voters – “to mend, not end, […]
Initiative Roadblock Awaits Governor’s Action
Jerry Brown’s career-making move was in 1974 when as Secretary of State he successfully sponsored Proposition 9, a statewide ballot measure that created the landmark Political Reform Act in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Fast forward: a bill awaiting his signature or veto would, if enacted, make such citizen initiatives far more expensive, if […]
Increased Taxes = Increased Crime
Tax increases have many intended effects, such as raising revenues and changing behavior. They also have anticipated but unfortunate effects, such as dampening growth or harming groups of taxpayers. But a tax hike that increases crime – who would ever tolerate that? It turns out, the Legislature is considering just such a scheme. A bill […]
Minimum Wage Hike a Blow to Young Job Seekers
Governor Brown has indicated he will sign a two-dollar increase in the minimum wage, which he brokered in the Legislature. This is unfortunate news for young and unskilled workers, who will be hardest hit by the mandated 25% hike over the next two years. (In 2012, the California minimum wage was $8.00/hour, compared with the […]