Californians are anxious. The economy is growing, the state budget is balanced and the rains have resumed. Yet California voters are apprehensive about the future. They worry that state leaders are not addressing the issues that truly concern them, according to the third annual CalChamber Poll. For the first time in three years of polling, […]

In a recent article about a job-killing bill that threatens more workplace litigation, CalChamber’s Jennifer Barrera and the internet trade association ComTIA’s Kara Bush stated, “By using the smokescreen of transparency, the bill author and her plaintiffs’ attorneys allies aim to unravel the carefully structured compromise. In effect, the legislation would require employers to serve up reams of data […]

California voters are anxious about housing affordability and skeptical of laws that would increase housing costs and worker commutes. During the next two weeks, Governor Brown and the Legislature will attempt to address some of those anxieties – considering tax increases or new state debt to subsidize affordable housing. They will also debate limited incentives […]

A California Supreme Court decision makes it easier to raise some local taxes. But how much easier remains to be seen. For two decades, local tax increases have usually been governed by Proposition 218, whether proposed by a local government agency or by citizen initiative. Passed by voters in 1996, Proposition 218 requires voter approval of all […]

California has the most ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goal in this or any other country. By 2030, Californians must reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent below our already-constrained 2020 levels. California produces only one percent of GHG emissions, but we outpunch our weight in global influence on climate policy. If we can meet our […]

The California Supreme Court recently declined to review the 2-1 split decisionby the Appellate Court, which ruled that California’s current cap-and-trade auction is not a tax requiring a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. The legislative authorization for the current cap-and-trade auction was adopted in 2006 with the passage of AB 32, which authorized the cap-and-trade program through 2020. […]

Productively addressing California’s housing crisis will require a long slog, not a magic bullet. The effective policies are politically treacherous, while the easy victories already have been chalked up. A broad consensus of nonpartisan policy experts and think tanks point to regulatory and litigation reform, particularly of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), as the […]