[Source: Sacramento Bee] From July through September, California collected $8.7 billion more in tax revenue than anticipated, according to the state’s Department of Finance, a bright sign amid a year of devastating economic news. The numbers (http://www.dof.ca.gov/Forecasting/Economics/Economic_and_Revenue_Updates/documents/2020/Oct-20.pdf) reflect the positive effect of federal aid, which came in the form of one-time $1,200 checks for individuals Read More…
Newsroom
Emergency COVID-19 rules coming soon
[Source: CalChamber] In November the Cal/OSHA Standards Board is expected to vote on emergency COVID-19 regulations Petition 583 (https://www.dir.ca.gov/oshsb/petition-583.html) that will not be made public until five days before the Board vote, Moutrie tells Frank. While the specifics of the regulations are not yet known, employers can expect them to be far reaching, affecting all Read More…
Trump Nemesis Mary Nichols on Short List to Run Biden EPA
[Source: Bloomberg New] If Joe Biden wins the presidency, his EPA chief could be a clean air champion from California who has fought President Donald Trump on automobile pollution or an environmental justice activist from Mississippi. Biden’s campaign has heard recommendations for both California air regulator Mary Nichols and Mississippi’s Heather McTeer Toney to lead Read More…
The dark side of Governor Newsom’s gas-powered vehicle ban
[Source: Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow] California Governor Newsom has convinced himself that green EV’s made from “fairy dust” must replace those dirty gas-powered vehicles. Sharing a few realities of the darker side of his fairy dust beliefs may burst his bubble. Let us get some of the bad news out of the way first. Read More…
Court allows Exide to abandon a toxic site in Vernon. Taxpayers will fund the cleanup
[Source: Los Angeles Times] A bankruptcy court ruled Friday that Exide Technologies may abandon its shuttered battery recycling plant in Vernon, leaving a massive cleanup of lead and other toxic pollutants at the site and in surrounding neighborhoods to California taxpayers. The decision by Chief Judge Christopher Sontchi of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Read More…
More than 200 million Americans could have toxic PFAS in their drinking water
[Source: Phys.Org] A peer-reviewed study by scientists at the Environmental Working Group estimates that more than 200 million Americans could have the toxic fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS in their drinking water at a concentration of 1 part per trillion, or ppt, or higher. Independent scientific studies have recommended a safe level for PFAS in Read More…
Prop. 15 would threaten small businesses and hinder economic recovery
[Source: CalMatters] I’m not going to write about the “new normal” resulting from COVID-19. While the topic is ever-present, what dominates my time and energy is creating a predictable and positive business environment to help small businesses get back on their feet. Small businesses, particularly minority-owned small businesses, are the lifeblood of California’s economy. A Read More…
Prop 15 would be catastrophic for an already devastated economy
[Source: Lisa A. Bartlett, O.C. Board of Supervisors] Amid an unprecedented global pandemic that has had a devastating effect on our economy, and caused great financial hardship to millions of Californians, proponents of Prop 15 now want to impose even greater hardship on families and local businesses. How? By enacting the largest annual property tax Read More…
Calamities challenge California’s economic foundation
[Source: The New York Times] Businesses shuttered by the pandemic are slowly reopening, but technology complexes are quiet, their workers carrying on from home indefinitely. The smoke-filled skies had started to clear, but new fires have arrived in a fierce wildfire season that shows the intensifying effects of climate change. Now California and its $3 Read More…