SACRAMENTO — Paying taxes in California could make you eligible for jury duty under a proposal backed by some prominent state lawmakers on Wednesday who worry the people deciding criminal and civil cases are “wealthier and whiter” than the population. People selected for jury duty in California come from two...
Wiener’s New Housing Bill Would Still End Single-Family-Only Zoning — but More 'Gently'
For three straight years, state Sen. Scott Wiener has tried to force California cities to swallow more apartment buildings near public transit, arguing it’s the only way the state can fill its crippling housing shortage and meet its ambitious climate goals. For three straight years, a shifting coalition of local...
Walters: Capitol Grinds up Major Housing Bill
Even under optimal circumstances, California is extraordinarily difficult to govern — more like a fractious nation than a culturally homogenous state. Our size and our staggering economic, cultural, ethnic, even geographic and meteorological diversity not only create complex issues but make the reconciliation of often bitterly disparate factions difficult, bordering...
High-Profile Housing Bill SB 50 Fails to Pass State Senate
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers have failed to pass the most ambitious proposal yet to combat a growing housing crisis in the nation's most populous state, voting down legislation twice in two days that would have overridden local zoning laws to let developers to build small apartment buildings in neighborhoods reserved...
Cities, Counties Could be Punished for Dragging Feet on Housing
SACRAMENTO — Faced with a crippling housing shortage that is driving prices up while putting more people on the streets, Gov. Gavin Newsom and California legislative leaders agreed Thursday on a plan to reward local governments that make it easier to build more housing faster and punish those that don't....
If California Stopped Giving Away Billions, It Wouldn’t Need New Taxes
You'd think that California, which boasts the world's fifth-largest economy, would have ample tax revenue for schools, roads, and a public safety net. But, in some people's eyes, the taxes and fees generated by our $2.75 trillion economy aren't sufficient to cover the Golden State's needs. Thus, on the 2020...
Central Valley Raises Its Voice To Boost Business
The 2019 legislative session was just getting underway in Sacramento. The ink was barely dry on hundreds of proposed bills (many of them mere placeholders) drafted by Assembly members and senators to address the myriad issues facing those who live, work, and do business in the state of California. In...