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CA poll: Public schools good, tenure bad
A new poll indicated that Californians broadly supported public school reform, even among respondents whose support for public education remained strong: “Californians trust their public school teachers and want to spend more money supporting public schools, according to a recent poll. […] California
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BOE Study: Proposed tax on services would take in $122.6 billion
Just in time for Tax Day, the Board of Equalization issued a study requested by the Senate Committee on Governance and Finance estimating the revenue take from taxing untaxed services would be $122.6 billion. The study will become fodder in
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L.A. mayor’s State of City address skips economic woes
In January 2014, a blue-ribbon commission created at the behest of Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson presented the council with a report titled “A Time for Truth” — a hugely downbeat account of the economic decline of the
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CA Senate wades into police videotaping controversy
Faced with mounting criticism over civil liberties abuses, lawmakers in Sacramento greenlit a so-called clarification of Californians’ right to videotape and photograph police officers on the job. Senate Bill 411, introduced by state Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, protects the practice so long
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UCLA Study: 35% water reduction order in Palm Springs may backfire
Gov. Jerry Brown’s recently announced Executive Order B-29-15, mandating statewide water use reductions will hit the Palm Springs area of California the hardest with 35 percent cuts in water usage. But a new UCLA study of outdoor watering restrictions in
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CalChamber plans another successful year of defeating “job killer” bills
Sacramento’s been taking care of business. Last week, the California Chamber of Commerce, known simply as CalChamber, announced a preliminary draft of its “job killer” bills, an annual list of proposed legislation that will hurt the state’s business community and
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Senate committee OKs increased energy regulation
A bill that ratchets up energy restrictions in California passed a Senate policy committee last week, despite concerns from business representatives and Republican legislators that it will drive up energy costs, cost jobs and place too much power in the
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Unions central to Brown’s infrastructure plans
Faced with a restive constituency disgruntled by drought, Gov. Jerry Brown has moved to execute on his plans for California infrastructure — a boon to labor unions, but a point of contention for his political adversaries. Train trouble As the Los
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Leading liberal policy wonk: “Snob zoning” drives inequality
The fact that California has by far the nation’s highest effective poverty rate finally sank in with the California political and media establishments in recent months. The Census Bureau’s 2012 decision to issue a separate ranking that factored in the
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Environmentalists face blame for drought
As California’s potent drought inspired soul searching from analysts worried the Golden State can’t grow without water, politicians and officials focused on a more immediate task: laying blame for the problem. Gov. Jerry Brown has tried to set a philosophical tone, cautioning that
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