Celebrating Small Business
Wednesday was Small Business Day in Sacramento acknowledged by many of the legislature’s members who attended the event put together by the California Small Business Association headed by Betty Jo Toccoli. Members of the legislature recognized a small business in their districts from immigrants who started as dishwashers to owning their own restaurants; a bakery […]
Attack on Prop 13 Faces Long Odds
The original Proposition 13 was four paragraphs long fitting on one side of a piece of paper. SCA 5, the measure to change Proposition 13 introduced by Senators Loni Hancock and Holly Mitchell yesterday intended to increase taxes on business property is 30 pages long. Without going into the details of the proposed changes, suffice it to […]
Protests North, Protests South
California politics did not lack for full-throated policy debates yesterday when protestors turned out in Sacramento to oppose SB 277, the vaccination bill for school children, and in Los Angeles to oppose the proposed route of the high -speed rail through the San Fernando Valley. Whether the protestors in either case will ultimately disrupt the […]
Volcker Report Praises California Budget Moves But Raises Warnings
California has taken positive steps to deal with its budget problems and processes in the last few years, according to a new report from The Volcker Alliance, but there could be problems ahead if the state reverts to its old ways of budgeting during good times. With news coming out of Sacramento that the budget prepared […]
Cap-and-Trade Talk is All About the Money
When discussing California’s landmark Cap-and-Trade legislation set up to pay for carbon emissions there is more conversation about money than there is about climate change. How much will the program cost? How will the money be spent? How will the overall economy be affected if billions of dollars are being redirected by governmental regulations? On […]
Voters Could Decide Pension Reforms
Pension reform is headed to the voters via initiative, and if successful, any future pension decisions will remain in the voters’ hands. The bi-partisan initiative filed by former Democratic San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and former Republican San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio proposes that voters have a say on any changes or increases to […]
Polls – Same Issue, Different Results—Or Are They?
Two polls were issued yesterday, while quite different in the territory they covered, both contained one question that examined the same issue – a split roll property tax. In one way the results on that one question were quite different. In another way they reflected a probable similar outcome—altering the property tax system will be […]
Only One Newspaper Publisher for Southern California?
The publisher of the Los Angeles Times took over the San Diego Union Tribune last month and that seemed to confirm a projection I heard not long ago from someone high up in the newspaper industry: In the not too distant future, there will be only one newspaper ownership in Southern California. It’s all about […]
CA Tax & Spend Issues Reflect National Debate
Yesterday, two articles appeared that took note of circumstances surrounding California’s taxing and spending. As the most populated state in the union that is not too surprising. However, is the national attention a reflection of how the press sees some of the coming debates in next year’s presidential contest? On the surface, the news report […]
“Hose Rage” and Other Odds and Ends
We all know about “Road Rage” but because of California’s dire drought conditions we may need to get ready for “Hose Rage.” This term was used in Australia during long periods of drought when neighbors would turn on neighbors who were using excessive amounts of water to wet lawns. There was even a reported homicide attributed […]