[Source: The Sacramento Bee] California’s gubernatorial transitions have included a less-than-stellar tradition in recent decades – outgoing governors leaving budget deficits to successors. The current governor, Jerry Brown, started the syndrome in 1983 when he departed after his first gubernatorial stint and left a $1.5 billion budget hole – big money in those days – Read More…
Category: California News
California environmental leaders, lawmakers gird for fight against President Trump
[Source: The Press Democrat] Restoring salmon in the Russian River and protecting the North Coast from oil rigs — two long-standing campaigns with broad public support — are among the goals likely to be challenged if not stifled by the sharp right turn of Donald Trump’s administration, environmental advocates and Democratic lawmakers said. More broadly, Read More…
California rejected Trump but could benefit anyway
[Source: The Orange County Register] On Jan. 20, when Donald Trump takes his hand off the Bible and picks up the phone, he could cause a near-seismic upheaval in California just by changing some federal rules and implementing new policies. Let me break the news to you gently: it might work out well. The federal Read More…
California jumps the shark
[Source: The Orange County Register] America may have trended toward the GOP, but California seems determined to find its own direction. The only question is, simply, how much more progressive the Golden State will become, even in the face of a far more conservative country beyond the Sierras. This election confirmed, if it was needed, Read More…
Will Trump end California’s climate rules?
[Source: The Mercury News] After eight years in which California had a partner in President Barack Obama in expanding renewable energy and electric vehicles, signing international deals and writing tougher pollution laws to the consternation of industry and Republicans, the election of Donald Trump now sets up the Golden State as a land in environmental Read More…
What now for true-blue California?
[Source: The Sacramento Bee] This was supposed to be, in the minds of many, the election that moved the rest of the nation closer to pluralistic, pro-tax, anti-gun, “progressive” California. Never mind. California voters reinforced the state’s image in a big way, favoring Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by a nearly 2-to-1 margin and passing Read More…
Here’s why the Legislature’s moderate Democrats see the ‘Mod Squad’ growing on election day
[Source: The Los Angeles Times] Late last year, after a group of self-described moderate Democrats successfully watered down a landmark climate change bill pushed by Gov. Jerry Brown and fiercely opposed by the oil lobby, a flurry of headlines trumpeted the rise of the so-called Mod Squad in Sacramento. But 2016 has not been as kind to Read More…
Insurance commissioner urges carriers to cut workers comp premiums 14 percent
[Source: Los Angeles Business Journal] California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones is urging insurance carriers in the state to cut the workers compensation premiums they charge employers by 14 percent. Thursday Jones lowered his suggestion for the average premium rate to $2.19 per $100 of employer payroll, which represents a 14 percent drop on average from Read More…
State’s environmental program helps raise $64.5 million for housing in LA
[Source: Los Angeles Daily News] Several Los Angeles-based affordable housing complexes, including Watt’s Jordan Downs, will benefit from money raised through California’s cap-and-trade program, state and local representatives said Wednesday. Jordan Downs will receive $12 million for its first phase of construction, which includes $2 million for street improvements along Century Boulevard, from a committee Read More…