[Source: Fox & Hounds] As the 2018 California Legislative Session commences on January 3, the business community must remain vigilant about those bills that could present new, burdensome changes in state labor and employment laws. The 2017 Session saw a large number of significant labor and employment laws get enacted that impose significant burdens upon Read More…
Newsroom
Californians, economics and environmental protection
[Source: Capitol Weekly] Something that isn’t too surprising for legislators or Gov. Brown as California continues to be on the forefront of environmental policies: A major survey shows strong majority (62 percent) of Californians believe air pollution is a problem in their part of California. Two-thirds (66 percent) believe the effects of global warming have Read More…
Three resignations have cost Democrats their supermajority
[Source: Los Angeles Times] Both houses of the California Legislature will convene Wednesday afternoon for the formal beginning of an eight-month session to craft a state budget and consider hundreds of proposed laws. And they will do so with three fewer lawmakers, two having resigned after being accused of sexual harassment. The national conversation over Read More…
A year-end look at Scott Pruitt’s EPA
[Source: The Washington Post] Given the pace at which the Environmental Protection Agency chief has rolled back his predecessors’ work (or at least attempted to), Scott Pruitt secured his place as a one of the most consequential Cabinet-level officials within the Trump administration with an aggressive first year at the helm. The Post’s Brady Dennis Read More…
Residents seek to recall 3 Paramount councilmembers in wake of environmental crisis
[Source: Long Beach Press Telegram] Residents in Paramount are attempting to recall three elected leaders as the city continues to grapple with an environmental crisis after the discovery of elevated levels of hexavalent chromium in the air. Proponents expect to begin collecting signatures early this year in their effort to recall councilmembers Daryl Hofmeyer, Peggy Read More…
E.P.A. officials, disheartened by agency’s direction, are leaving in droves
[Source: New York Times] More than 700 people have left the Environmental Protection Agency since President Trump took office, a wave of departures that puts the administration nearly a quarter of the way toward its goal of shrinking the agency to levels last seen during the Reagan administration. Of the employees who have quit, retired Read More…
Split roll proposal bad for jobs and the economy
[Source: Fox & Hounds] The California League of Women Voters and other advocates of a split-roll property tax system filed an initiative December 15 that would increase property taxes on California employers by an estimated $11.4 billion per year. A tax increase of this size will lead to higher consumer prices for goods and services Read More…
California Air Resources Board approves plan to meet California’s bold climate and air quality goals
[Source: California Air Resources Board] 2017 Scoping Plan details how state will slash climate-changing gases. Building on the state’s success in decarbonizing its economy, the California Air Resources Board today approved a bold plan to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decade while improving air quality and public health, investing in Read More…
A California lawmaker is trying to ban all gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2040
[ Source: Fortune] California drivers could see tremendous changes to their commute in the not-too-distant future if a California lawmaker gets his way. Assemblymember Phil Ting says he plans to introduce a bill to prohibit vehicles that use fossil fuels from driving on the state’s roads. If passed, the legislation would go into effect in Read More…