[Source: Anaheim Chamber of Commerce] The Governor has ordered the closure of indoor operations in the 30 monitoring counties, including Orange County, for the following industries: Fitness Centers Places of Worship Offices for Non-Critical Sectors Personal Care Services Hair Salons and Barbershops Malls The Governor’s earlier closure of indoor operations in restaurants, wineries and tasting Read More…
Tag: coronavirus
California re-evaluating its landmark climate strategy
[Source: CalMatters] California EPA Secretary Jared Blumenfeld laid out plans for re-examining whether the program is likely to meet its goals for reducing greenhouse gases. It signals a shift in the administration’s attitude and reflects problems posed by the pandemic-caused recession. As the coronavirus pandemic and recession hits California, the governor’s top environmental official has Read More…
State should protect essential businesses from frivolous and predatory lawsuits
[Source: CalMatters] The COVID-19 pandemic has created an extremely trying situation for essential businesses, which have stepped up in amazing and heroic ways to provide the goods and services that Californians rely on daily. But as the state eases quarantine restrictions and takes steps to reopen, essential businesses face yet another devastating threat to operations Read More…
Emissions are surging back as countries and states reopen
[Source: New York Times] After a drastic decline this spring, global greenhouse gas emissions are now rebounding sharply, scientists reported, as countries relax their coronavirus lockdowns and traffic surges back onto roads. It’s a stark reminder that even as the pandemic rages, the world is still far from getting global warming under control. In early Read More…
Rates likely to rise sharply: businesses may see hikes after vandalism, virus
[Source: Los Angeles Business Journal] While mass protests against police brutality were taking place just blocks away on May 31, two cars pulled up in front of Lana Negrete’s family business, the Santa Monica Music Center. People jumped out of the vehicles and ran into the store pointing guns and yelling threats at Negrete and Read More…
California’s gas tax is going up again. Amid coronavirus, some say now is not the time
[Source: Los Angeles Times] California’s gas tax is set to increase July 1, but some lawmakers are calling for a freeze on the higher levy, citing the financial burden of the coronavirus-spawned recession on millions of the state’s residents. The automatic increase pegged to inflation — the third increase in the last four years — Read More…
Will California voters support new taxes to avoid painful budget cuts?
[Source: KQED] When supporters of increasing commercial property taxes, reshaping property tax transfer rules and legalizing sports gambling began formulating initiatives to put before voters in November, California’s economy was riding high — unemployment was at historic lows and state coffers were flush with fat surpluses. With less than five months until Election Day, campaigns Read More…
As EPA steps back, states face wave of requests for environmental leniency
[Source: NPR] Some of the country’s most polluting industries have flooded state regulators with requests to ease environmental regulations, according to an NPR review of hundreds of state environmental records. Companies across the country say the pandemic is interfering with their ability to comply with laws that protect the public from pollution. State environmental authorities Read More…
Beware the temporary tax fix
[Source: Fox&Hounds] During these difficult times, with politicians scrambling for answers to the economic woes brought on by the pandemic, expect to hear about temporary solutions to address problems often in the form of a tax increase. If history teaches anything, temporary government solutions often become permanent. We already have one temporary tax proposed, AB Read More…