Steven Greenhut | CalWatchdog.com

Tag "Steven Greenhut"

Gov. Brown’s budget sets spending records, but warns of recession

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Jerry Brown’s annual budgets have become familiar affairs. During his last two terms in office, Brown routinely offered a budget plan that broke spending records, but also was designed to limit the creation of new programs while

New Year welcomes legal pot in California, but rules are not yet clear

Steven Greenhut December 31, 2017

SACRAMENTO – In November, 2016, California voters approved an initiative (Proposition 64) legalizing recreational uses of marijuana, with legal sales beginning on Monday, Jan. 1. But with all major legal changes, the rules are somewhat unclear as a mish-mash of

Realtors’ initiative could boost home sales, limit property taxes

Steven Greenhut December 2, 2017

SACRAMENTO – Property-tax-limiting Proposition 13 has long been viewed as the “third rail” of California politics given its continued popularity among the home-owning electorate. Public-sector unions occasionally talk about sponsoring an initiative to eliminate its tax limits for commercial properties,

Nepotism scandal embroils recently gutted state tax board

Steven Greenhut November 22, 2017

SACRAMENTO – The California Board of Equalization was stripped of most of its powers over the summer, after a series of audits and news reports exposed myriad spending, accounting and management problems. But the renamed, and greatly diminished, tax agency continues

Will new sexual harassment rules turn corner on abuse scandal?

Steven Greenhut November 15, 2017

SACRAMENTO – Will a newly announced set of Senate rules for handling sexual harassment claims help change a Capitol culture that some blame for fostering the current sexual harassment scandal? Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, announced

California pension funds pushed by politicians to divest from gun industry

Steven Greenhut November 8, 2017

SACRAMENTO – California’s two major pension funds, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), control more than $500 billion in total assets, making them two of Wall Street’s most influential investors. They

Gov. Brown vetoes few bills – latest ones get conservative praise

Steven Greenhut October 20, 2017

SACRAMENTO – California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed only 118 of the 957 bills that came before his desk in the recently concluded legislative session, but some of his final vetoes earned a great deal of attention and praise – even

Gov. Brown signs major bills, including ones that expand workplace benefits

Steven Greenhut October 12, 2017

SACRAMENTO – In his veto message of two bills that would have banned smoking at California state parks and beaches, Gov. Jerry Brown argued that there must be “some limit to the coercive power of government.” Nevertheless, in a sea

Officials wrestle with ways to boost California’s voter turnout

Steven Greenhut October 4, 2017

SACRAMENTO – Does California have a voter turnout problem? The state’s voter-turnout rates hit the skids in the 2014 election cycles, with only 25 percent of registered voters casting a ballot in the June primary and only 42 percent voting

Technology-related bills struggled during recent legislative session

Steven Greenhut September 27, 2017

SACRAMENTO – California’s leaders often point to the burgeoning high-tech industry as evidence of the state’s strong, future-oriented economy. The industry’s ongoing success helps Democrats rebut arguments from conservatives who say that California isn’t particularly business friendly. But despite