Budget and Finance

CA cities gain tool to chop retirement benefits

A cliche in government circles is that there is no “magic bullet” available to address many big, difficult problems. But thanks to a recent action by the California Supreme Court, many local governments now do have a “magic bullet” to

CA Dems seek new corporate tax

James Poulos May 6, 2014

A new bill would hike taxes on corporations with the biggest spread in paid wages. The legislation, Senate Bill 1372, was recently introduced by state Sens. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, and Loni Hancock, D-Oakland. It passed the Senate Governance and Finance Committee late

‘Job-Killer’ bill would allow split-roll parcel tax

John May 2, 2014

Just days after Toyota announced plans to move its corporate headquarters to Texas, the California Senate is poised to adopt a bill that would create a split-roll parcel tax system. Senate Bill 1021, introduced by state Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, would allow

Gov. Brown will see Mexico’s low taxes in action

John Seiler April 29, 2014

Gov. Jerry Brown today announced that in July he will lead a California trade mission to Mexico. He “will be joined by a diverse delegation of California government, business, economic development, investment and policy leaders on the Mission, which will

CA vies with other states’ film tax credits

James Poulos April 28, 2014

The market for movie and television production is now an incentive-laden free-for-all. Faced with fierce competition from statehouses around the country, two California assemblymen have introduced a new bill upping the stakes in the tax credit arms race. Assembly Bill 1839 has been introduced

San Bernardino bankruptcy shows pensions crowding out services

Wayne Lusvardi April 23, 2014

In his novel “The Sun Also Rises,” California novelist Ernest Hemingway wrote, “How do you go bankrupt? Two ways: Gradually, then suddenly.” Case in point: the City of San Bernardino, which filed for bankruptcy in 2012. The pace of municipal bankruptcy

Sen. Steinberg dumps carbon tax idea

James Poulos April 21, 2014

State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, has given up on his plan to replace California’s cap-and-trade law with a carbon tax on vehicles. At first, Steinberg wanted to simplify the way California regulated emissions. To do so, he suggested that revenue