WASHINGTON — An annual congressional report says the U.S. budget deficit is likely to burst through the symbolic $1 trillion barrier this year despite a healthy economy. Tuesday's Congressional Budget Office report follows a burst of new spending last year and the repeal in December of several taxes used to...
Walters: Slanting Ballot Measure Titles
Article II Section 10(d) of California’s constitution is brief, to wit: “Prior to circulation of an initiative or referendum petition for signatures, a copy shall be submitted to the attorney general who shall prepare a title and summary of the measure as provided by law.” That sounds like a routine...
Just Like Texas, California Is Rated 'Tax Friendly'
Kiplinger, a personal finance publication, has assembled a detailed summary of state taxes on income, property, and everything you buy. While not landing among the Top 10 most-tax friendly states, California received Kiplinger's "tax-friendly" designation — the same as its big economic rival, Texas. "The Golden State’s reputation as a...
Hidden in Plain Sight: California Illegal Pot Market Booming
LOS ANGELES — California's struggling legal cannabis industry is expected to grow this year to $3.1 billion, but it remains outmatched by a thriving illegal market ripe with bargains, a report concluded Thursday. Consumers are spending roughly $3 in the state's underground pot economy for every $1 in the legal...
Newsom Signs Tax-Returns Law Aimed at Trump
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Tuesday requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns to appear on the state's primary ballot, a move aimed squarely at Republican President Donald Trump. Even if the law withstands a likely legal challenge, Trump could avoid the requirements by choosing not...
Walters: California’s Other Fiscal Crisis
Gov. Gavin Newsom and his predecessor, Jerry Brown, have repeatedly stressed the need to build state budget reserves to cushion the impact of the next recession, whenever it hits. Thanks to a vibrant economy, they’ve squirreled away nearly $20 billion in various reserve accounts. When recession hits, however, the state...
Walters: California Tax Revenue Is Soaring
It’s the good news that California’s political establishment — Democratic politicians and their allies in public-employee labor unions — prefer not to acknowledge. The official line from the establishment is that California’s schools, local governments, and state programs are being financially starved. The drumbeat of impoverishment is clearly aimed at...
Why States, Cities Should Stop Giving Companies Tax Breaks
U.S. states and cities hand out tens of billions in taxpayer dollars every year to companies as economic incentives. These businesses are supposed to use the money, typically distributed through economic development programs, to open new facilities, create jobs and generate tax revenue. But all too often that’s not what happens, as I’ve learned after...
Walters: Conflict Over Votes for Local Taxes Heats Up
For decades, it’s been an article of political faith – as well as law – that local government taxes designated for particular purposes require two-thirds approval by voters. The supermajority vote provision was created by Proposition 13, California’s famous – or infamous – property tax limit measure, passed by voters...
Fact Check: Trump Declares ‘Treason’ Over Scrutiny of Campaign
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is using "treason" rather lightly as he assails unidentified U.S. officials for investigating operatives of his campaign in 2016. There's no allegation or even suggestion that they committed this punishable-by-death crime, if any crime at all. Trump's hyperbolic characterization echoed at the end of a...