Study: Opportunity Zone-ready California could generate hundreds of millions in economic activity
More than three million Californians live in some 879 federally designated Opportunity Zones in disadvantaged communities throughout the state. California has more Opportunity Zones than any other state. The federal Opportunity Zone incentive allows investors to defer federal taxation on capital gains by investing the proceeds through a qualified opportunity fund into a designated Opportunity […]
Former Treasurer John Chiang Joins California Forward
Former California State Controller and State Treasurer John Chiang has been elected co-chair of California Forward’s Leadership Council. Chiang is a Democrat and will join Republican Pete Weber of Fresno as Co-Chairs of the bipartisan public policy organization. Chiang succeeds Lenny Mendonca on the Leadership Council after Mendonca joined the Newsom Administration as chief economic […]
Strong Workforce Apprenticeship Program in L.A. County Drawing Rave Reviews
When Jeffrey Forrest, recently arrived from Missouri, took his job at the College of the Canyons in 2016, his chancellor told him, “We need an apprenticeship program.” Forrest, the vice president for economic and workforce development, began to talk with employers and attend meetings and he soon ran into Tracy DiFilippis, apprenticeship coordinator an sector […]
California Economic Summit To Honor Employers And Educators Who Work Together
California has a workforce challenge–middle skills jobs are going unfilled because workers aren’t trained. This challenge has helped create more cooperation between education entities and employers. The California Economic Summit is sponsoring a contest to identify and honor innovative partnerships between employers and California’s secondary and post-secondary institutions. The Partnerships for Industry and Education (PIE) Contest will […]
Assembly Hearings Focused on Raising More Californians into Middle Class
What can we do to lift people out of poverty or near poverty and into California’s middle class? The California Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy (JEDE) held its second informational hearing this week in Sacramento to address this important issue. “While many areas of California have recovered and are thriving since […]
Top Two Reform Speaks to the Political Middle
On NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, host Chuck Todd made a comment in the guise of a question that talked about the “hollowed-out middle” of American politics, namely how hyper-partisanship will endure because voter behavior in the primaries only results in very conservative Republicans and very liberal Democrats. The story of growing division is […]
Can this Presidential Election Actually Energize Political Reform?
How did it come to this? The two most unpopular candidates in the history of presidential polling — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump — wind up being the two main candidates for President. While early voting numbers crossed 40 million nationally before Tuesday, an overwhelming majority of voters are simply “disgusted” by the state of […]
California Treasurer Chiang Calls Out Pay To Play In School Bond Elections
California State Treasurer John Chiang and a coalition of county treasurers and tax collectors today moved to stop questionable bankrolling of campaign activities in local bond election campaigns. “There are unscrupulous Wall Street firms offering to fund local bond campaigns in exchange for lucrative contracts,” said Chiang. “Not only are these pay-to-play arrangements unlawful, they […]
Modernization of California’s landmark Political Reform Act announced
The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), in partnership with the University of California and California Forward, has announced a project to updateCalifornia’s venerable Political Reform Act (PRA). The Political Reform Act was passed in 1974 as a response to the Watergate scandal and was hailed as a landmark law that cemented California’s reputation as a national leader in regulating […]
California Workforce Training Gets $200 Million Boost From Budget
The California Legislature passed a budget that includes an additional $200 million for a workforce training program that takes aim at the looming skills gap across the state’s regions. “This is a victory for both California employers and community college students. In our travels around California, we heard loud and clear about the need for […]