Budget and Finance
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SEC commissioner warns of financial crisis
Much of the country, and especially California, has yet to fully recover from the Great Recession, which officially ended in June 2009. But recent federal government actions may be leading us into another financial crisis. That was the warning
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VIDEO: The Truth (and Lies) about Income Inequality, with Grover Norquist
Want to solve income inequality? Washington can’t do it by hiking taxes. CalWatchdog.com editor Brian Calle discusses with American for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist.
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Controller’s website opens local governments’ books
State Controller John Chiang continues to deliver on his promise of government transparency. The state’s chief financial officer announced Monday a new open-data website that provides Californians with more than a decade’s worth of financial data for local governments. The
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CA high court asked to review bullet-train ruling
Arguing that an appellate court ruling endangers the public’s faith in future bond initiatives, the attorneys for the Tos/Fukuda/Kings County group challenging the state’s bullet-train plans on Tuesday asked the California Supreme Court to review the recent decision reversing trial-court
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After gamble backfires, L.A. demands refund from banks
In the San Francisco Bay area, public transit riders are paying $104 million in higher rider fees to cover the cost of exotic financial insurance known as an interest rate swap. In Detroit, the inability of the city to
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Bill could double car registration fees
A bill that could double California counties’ vehicle registration fees has passed the Legislature, and is awaiting a signature or veto from Gov. Jerry Brown. Assembly Bill 2393, by Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, authorizes counties to charge annual
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CA Senate pushes $400M Hollywood tax credits
A California Senate committee wants to quadruple the entertainment industry subsidies keeping production in Hollywood. With a unanimous vote, the appropriations committee passed a $300 million increase in tax credits for film and television, bringing the size of the controversial program
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