Tag "poverty"
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LAO: CA housing costs likely to keep ‘rapidly rising’
The state Legislative Analyst Office’s new report on the high cost of housing in California got some coverage around the state, with a primary focus being its call for 100,000 additional housing units being built a year. The LAO says
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Food stamps up in CA, down in Kansas
Despite the economic recovery, poverty is increasing in California. It’s one of the few states to see an increase in the use of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps), according to new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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Tax credit could cost taxpayers $1 billion
California now is considering a state-level Earned Income Tax Credit. That comes just in time for Jan. 27, the IRS’ EITC Awareness Day. (I am not making this up.) According to a study by the Legislative Analyst, requested by the
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Mercury-News report on mass CA poverty may change coverage
The pack mentality of the Sacramento beat reporters is striking. No one wants to point out that the Obama administration says fracking is safe. No one wants to point out that the Local Control Funding Formula turned out to be
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You’re far more likely to be impoverished in CA than Mississippi
For decades, economists have complained about the stupidity of the Census Bureau’s annual report on poverty in the U.S. because it didn’t include cost of living in its rankings of the 50 states. An example of the old stats can
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Is Gov. Brown disinterested in pension reform?
Later today, the governing board of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System is expected to pass rules giving state employees 99 ways to spike their “pensionable pay.” Gov. Jerry Brown only objected to one of the 99 bonuses. This is
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Is pro-business faction emerging among CA Dem lawmakers?
For years, both the California Air Resources Board and the California Democratic Party have peddled the absurd fiction that there is no economic downside to AB 32 forcing the entire state to shift to cleaner but much costlier forms of
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CA workforce participation hits 38-year low
The same state survey of labor statistics that led to headlines last week about California having its lowest unemployment rate in nearly six years also had some much less positive news. The California Center for Jobs & the Economy noted these stats
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CA media: GOP dysfunction bigger topic than mass poverty
The Los Angeles Times’ news analysis about how recent controversies are likely to hurt California Republicans with two constituencies they are trying to woo — Latinos and women — isn’t loaded or biased. It’s likely true. Here’s a bit of
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Need to create middle-class CA jobs matters more than minimum wage
Economic conservatives seem wary over the attempts by Democrats at just about every level of government to focus on the minimum wage. But should they be? It provides an easy way to broaden the debate from how the poor are
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