[Source: Associated Press] The Congressional Budget Office said Monday that the U.S. economy could be $15.7 trillion smaller over the next decade than it otherwise would have been if Congress does not mitigate the economic damage from the coronavirus. The CBO, which had already issued a report forecasting a severe economic impact over the next Read More…
Newsroom
Covid-19 cuts deep into LA jobs
[Source: Los Angeles Business Journal] It’s no surprise that L.A.’s economy has been walloped by coronavirus-driven business shutdowns, but the extent of the damage and how much worse L.A. County has fared only became apparent with the release of data for April. The state Employment Development Department reported on May 22 that L.A. County’s April Read More…
Burdens created by new leaves of absence
[Source: CalChamber] Even in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and a historic economic shock, the Legislature is considering legislation to increase the cost on employers of maintaining workers on the payroll. That is why these bills have been tagged as Job Killers. AB 3216 (Kalra) proposes to expand several existing leaves, including leave under the Read More…
U.S. manufacturing activity off 11-year low; construction spending falls
[Source: Reuters] U.S. manufacturing activity eased off an 11-year low in May, the strongest sign yet that the worst of the economic downturn was behind as businesses reopen, though the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis could take years because of high unemployment. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Monday its index of national Read More…
Is looting covered by insurance? Depends on the business
[Source: Los Angeles Times] Sean Wotherspoon spent Saturday night in his Los Angeles home, watching live as his businesses were destroyed. He watched as security-camera feeds showed people shattering the plate glass windows of his Round Two store on Melrose Avenue and walking out with more than $250,000 worth of high-end street wear. He saw Read More…
New measure on November ballot could dramatically impact property taxes
[Source: Sacramento Business Journal] A titanic battle on the November ballot awaits commercial real estate interests and investors, seeking to stop the most dramatic change to their property taxes in more than 40 years. State officials announced Friday a measure known as split-roll had enough registered voter signatures to qualify for the Nov. 3 ballot Read More…
California’s budget cuts threaten environmental spending
[Source: Associated Press] California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget cuts include canceling billions of dollars in climate change spending, a blow to environmental advocates who look to the state as a stopgap for the Trump administration’s weakening of federal protections. In January, Newsom proposed a $12 billion “climate budget” that, over the next five years, Read More…
Governor lays out plan for solving record state budget deficit
[Source: CalChamber] Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed solving a record budget deficit by tapping reserves, borrowing money from special funds, deferring spending and raising some targeted revenues. But the major budget solution to an estimated $54.5 billion deficit depends on spending federal funds already allocated to California and receiving federal funds not yet approved by Read More…
A new skirmish in ‘tort wars’
[Source: CalMatters] No session of the California Legislature would be complete without at least one skirmish in the decades-long conflict known to Capitol insiders as “tort wars” — and this year is no different even though the COVID-19 pandemic dominates political consciousness. A tort is, as one dictionary defines it, “a wrongful act or an Read More…