The Not-So-Grand Circumstances Of California’s Grand Old Party
Tweet On the eve of last month’s election, Tony Quinn, a former legislative staffer and California political commentator, predicted President Obama would win California by 14 points, which has been...
View ArticleSacramento Spotlight: AB 10 – Minimum Wage Increase
Tweet This marks the first in a regular series examining legislation introduced by California lawmakers. At first glance, minimum wage laws are popular concepts. A recent Reason-Rupe poll found...
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Sacramento Spotlight: AB 1203/SB209 – Retroactive Capital Gains Tax Increase...
Tweet Following the passage of Proposition 30, California has the highest capital gains tax rate in the nation (13.3% for California; 33% state and federal combined) – second only to Denmark in the...
View ArticleSacramento Spotlight: A Cornucopia of Fracking Legislation
TweetCalifornia currently has about 50,000 producing oil and gas wells scattered throughout the state, of which about 750 (or 1.5%) use hydraulic fracturing – “fracking”, for short. While fracking...
View ArticleSacramento Spotlight: AB 158/SB 405 – Statewide Plastic Bag Bans
Tweet “Paper or plastic?” Or, if you are shopping in California in the near future: “E. Coli cloth or E. Coli compostable?” More than 60 cities and counties in California – roughly one-seventh and...
View ArticleThe Electoral Consequences of Granting Citizenship to Undocumented Immigrants
Tweet The Senate’s Gang of 8 Comprehensive Immigration Reform provides a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants currently residing in the United States. While...
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For California’s GOP, Image Rebranding is a Must
Tweet The California Republican Party is facing a serious “come to Jesus” moment. After multiple unsuccessful election cycles, the Golden State GOP has been searching for answers: electing a new...
View ArticleSacramento Spotlight: AB 110 – The Not-So-Balanced Balanced Budget
Tweet “A tremendous achievement.” “Ho-hum, another on-time balanced budget.” These quotes, the first from Assembly Speaker John Perez and the second from Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell...
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California’s Migration Problem: “Good Luck Movin’ Up Cause I’m Movin’ Out”
Tweet Looking at domestic migration into and out of California today versus three decades ago explains much about California’s looming obstacles and forestalls state policy dominated by a single-party...
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Sacramento Spotlight: Comprehensive Good Governance Reform Part 1 –...
Tweet California’s State Legislature is now on interim recess until January. In its absence, the “Sacramento Spotlight” will shine on something different: not bills, but good governance reform....
View ArticleSacramento Spotlight: Comprehensive Good Governance Reform Part 2 –...
Tweet In November 1990, California voters imposed term limits on their state-level elected officials in the form of Proposition 140, which received 52% support. In June 2012, 61% of voters opted in...
View ArticleSacramento Spotlight: Comprehensive Good Governance Reform Part 3 –...
Tweet California has eight statewide elected officials, which is almost 1 ½ times the national average. The Golden State’s FY 2014 budget allots over $2.7 billion to cover the costs of those offices,...
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Brown’s Proposed FY 2015 Budget In Perspective: Short-Term Memories Continue...
Tweet On Thursday, January 9th, Governor Jerry Brown released the details of his FY 2015 Proposed Budget kicking off a six month state budget journey. Much focus has been on the Governor’s frugality,...
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Assessing California’s Economic Growth by Region
Tweet In 2011, former Governor of Minnesota and Presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty announced he had a plan to grow the United States’ economy by 5% annually. While he was praised by some for the bold...
View ArticleStaying Classy, San Diego: Takeaways from the 2014 Special Mayoral Election
Tweet San Diego—California’s 2nd largest city and the 8th largest in the nation—elected a Republican mayor last night. Before Kevin Faulconer’s election, just one of America’s top 15 cities...
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Sacramento Spotlight: Six California’s Part 1 – Demographics of the New States
Tweet Last month, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen approved for circulation (i.e. gathering roughly 800,000 signatures) venture capitalist Tim Draper’s proposed ballot initiative to split the...
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Sacramento Spotlight: Six California’s Part 2 – Economics of the New States
Tweet The first installment of the “Sacramento Spotlight” series examining Tim Draper’s proposed “Six Californias” ballot initiative found that no single new state could decisively be named a winner...
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Exploring California’s Relative Labor Market Growth
Tweet Earlier this month, the California Employment Development Department released good news; California’s unemployment rate decreased 0.2 points to 8.1% in January 2014. Based on EDD data, the...
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Sacramento Spotlight: Six California’s Part 3 – Politics of the New States
Tweet *Editor’s Note: The first two installments of this series example the possible demographics and economics of Tim Draper’s “Six California’s” initiative, currently in the qualifying stage for the...
View ArticleProceed with Caution – Beware of Early Polls
Tweet Early polls might generate buzz, but reporters, voters, and politicians should view these polls skeptically. They are unlikely to predict the June primary results very well for three cascading...
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