Combat climate change, or clean up California’s water? Those alarmed by the Legislature’s decision to dip into a greenhouse gas fund to pay for clean drinking water may need to get used to it: Constitutional restrictions on spending that money are set to expire in 2021. At issue is the...
Hurtado Announces $15M for Valley Drinking Water
Failing water systems throughout the southern San Joaquin Valley will get a $15 million boost thanks to the efforts of state Sen. Melissa Hurtado, a Sanger Democrat. “Access to clean drinking water is one of the main reasons why I chose to run for office,” Hurtado said in a news...
911 Upgrade Could Cost Californians Despite Budget Surplus
SACRAMENTO — A $214.8 billion budget approved Thursday by California lawmakers would upgrade the state's aging 911 system following the most devastating wildfire season in state history and help middle class families pay their monthly health insurance premiums. To fund those changes, however, lawmakers want to impose a new monthly...
California Lawmakers OK $213 Billion Budget. Here's What's Inside.
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers on Thursday approved a $214.8 billion operating budget, sending the plan to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk with a focus on expanding access to health insurance while spending billions of new money on homelessness and housing. Newsom will have 12 days to review the bill and is...
Walters: Secrecy Abounds on State Budget, Major Bills
Fair warning: By reading this you will be plunging into the Legislature’s almost impenetrably arcane thicket of internal procedures. To begin at the beginning, for decades the state budget was written in secret by the chairmen of the Legislature’s two fiscal committees, Assembly Ways and Means and Senate Finance. This...
Brand Touts Higher Rainy Day Fund In ‘Status Quo’ Budget
Mayor Lee Brand described his proposed 2020 Fresno budget as “status quo.” Not much is different in FY 2020’s $1.187 billion spending plan, a 3.5% increase from FY 2019. “It maintains all the existing services, with only three positions added in the general fund portion. We simply don’t have the...
5 Takeaways From Newsom’s Revised Budget Plan
Buoyed by California’s strong economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom sent state lawmakers a revised budget Thursday that boosts his already-hefty January proposal to $213.6 billion. Ka-ching! Public schools will reap most of the gains if the Democratic-controlled Legislature rolls with him. Newsom also upped his ante on the housing crisis with a proposed...
IPOs Bring Tax Jackpot for California; Can Lawmakers Resist?
SACRAMENTO — Uber and Airbnb are among at least six California-based companies valued at more than $1 billion expected to go public this year, creating a new class of millionaires and billionaires and a welcome quandary for the state's budget writers. Though it's tough to gauge the total tax revenue...
When the Next Recession Hits, Will California Be Able to Count on Washington?
They don’t call it the Golden State for nothing, at least not lately. California’s fiscal health is in extraordinary shape. Income tax receipts surpassed expectations for the pivotal month of April. Projections of a $21 billion-plus surplus are not out of the question. Nearly 3 million jobs have been added since the depths of...
Money Games: Revised LA Olympics Budget Nearly $7 Billion
The price tag on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics is now $6.88 billion, a $1.36 billion increase that comes mainly because of accounting measures designed to better reflect inflation over the long lead-up to those games. Most key numbers the organizing committee released Tuesday are essentially the same as those...