Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
Jeff Daniels | @jeffdanielsca
Published: Mon, 19 March 2018 – 6:49 PM ET
Californians may still love the beautiful weather and beaches, but more and more they are fed up with the high housing costs and taxes and deciding to flee to lower-cost states such as Nevada, Arizona and Texas.
By Naomi Jagoda – 03/18/18 06:00 AM EDT
Republicans are increasingly talking about “phase two” of tax cuts — including a permanent extension of the new law’s individual tax cuts — in an effort to highlight their signature legislative accomplishment and force Democrats to take tough votes.
By Dan Walters | Feb. 18, 2018 | COMMENTARY
This year is the 40th anniversary of Proposition 13, the iconic property tax limit measure that California voters overwhelmingly endorsed in 1978.
By Kathleen Pender
Published: February 13, 2018
Updated: February 13, 2018 – 4:00pm
California’s tax revenues far exceeded expectations in January for the second consecutive month, but it remains to be seen how much of the excess reflects underlying strength in the economy, versus people speeding up their 2017 state income tax payments while they were still fully deductible on federal tax returns.
By Jeff Stein
February 12, 2018
California’s plan to shield residents from a tax hike under President Trump’s tax plan is likely to fail, said seven former high-ranking Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department officials.
By Jeff Horseman | jhorseman@scng.com | The Press-Enterprise
February 3, 2018 at 8:58 am
And they thought passage was the hard part.
Almost a year after Democratic leaders and a coalition of business, local government and labor interests lobbied furiously to get a massive road-repair bill through the state Legislature, the same alliance is ready to defend a 12-cent-per-gallon increase in California’s gas tax that’s key to the bill’s aim of raising more than $50 billion over 10 years.
By Adam Ashton
aashton@sacbee.com
February 01, 2018 – 12:01 AM
California’s swelling budget reserves are approaching a point where the state by law can’t save any more money ‑ but don’t expect a tax rebate.
January 27, 2018
When Republicans in Congress passed the largest tax reform in the last 30 years, the opposition party held press conferences decrying the measure and telling the nation it was actually a big tax increase for the middle class. They referred to it as “Armageddon” and other outlandish descriptions of gloom and doom. Not a single Democrat in either the House of Representatives or the Senate voted for the measure.
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AP Nation / World
By JONATHAN J. COOPER
Associated Press
May 22, 2017 – 7:05 PM EDT
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A California bill that would eliminate health insurance companies and provide government-funded health coverage for everyone in the state would cost $400 billion and require significant tax increases, legislative analysts said Monday.
By Jeff Horseman, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 04/24/17 – 7:43 PM PDT |
A newly passed transportation funding bill that raises California’s gasoline tax by 12 cents a gallon isn’t a long-term fix for the state’s crumbling roads, according to a report released Monday by a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank.
By Jon Coupal
Posted: 04/21/1 – 4:11 PM PDT |
For the last three weeks this column has focused on both the policies and politics of the $5.2 billion annual transportation tax increase. In the unlikely event that some have forgotten — or were on another planet — the taxes include a substantial hike in the car tax as well as a 12 cent increase in the gas tax.
Capitol Alert
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
April 19, 2017 – 11:37 AM
Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday dismissed as “preposterous” suggestions that he broke the law by providing district-specific projects to lawmakers to win their support for his $52 billion road repair package with tax and fee increases.
Patrick McGreevy, Melanie Mason and John Myers
April 9 , 2017
In one of the biggest legislative victories of his storied political career, Gov. Jerry Brown pushed through an ambitious plan last week that will increase gas taxes and vehicle fees to raise $52 billion over the next decade for the repair of California’s system of crumbling roads, highways and bridges.
By Jeff Horseman / Staff Writer
Published: April 7, 2017 – Updated: 11:41 a.m.
Riverside County will get $420 million for transportation infrastructure projects, and four cities will finally get their vehicle license fee revenue back, thanks to a deal struck with two Democratic lawmakers to get their votes for a massive transportation funding package.
Capitol Alert
By Jim Miller, Christopher Cadelago and Taryn Luna
jmiller@sacbee.com
April 8, 2017 – 12:01 AM
California drivers will begin paying 12 cents per gallon more in gas taxes later this year, the first of several tax and fee hikes contained in this week’s road-funding bill that eventually will cost the average motorist about $120 a year.
Capitol Alert
By Taryn Luna and Alexei Koseff
tluna@sacbee.com
April 6, 2017 – 7:00 PM
The state Legislature on Thursday passed a sweeping $52 billion transportation plan that will raise California gas taxes after leaders struck deals with wavering lawmakers to fund road projects in their districts.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
April 3, 2017 – 3:22 PM
During Barack Obama’s presidency, Republican congressional leaders easily passed repeals of Obama’s landmark health insurance law, knowing they were DOA.
By Jeff Horseman, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 04/03/17 – 8:25 PM PDT |
Gov. Jerry Brown is bringing his pitch for a $52 billion transportation funding plan to Riverside.
By DON THOMPSON and SOPHIA BOLLAG, Associated Press
March 29, 2017, at 9:11 p.m.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s governor and legislative leaders on Wednesday proposed raising $52 billion to fix the state’s roads through a big gasoline tax increase, higher car registration fees and a charge on emission-free vehicles.
By Jonathan Lansner,
jlansner@scng.com
Posted: 03/12/17 – 10:17 PM PDT |
Warning: Property taxes are due April 10.
Before you search for the bill and the checkbook – and perhaps express a few choice nasty words aloud about the financial pinch – let me make you extra grumpy.
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
December 30, 2016 12:13 PM
Californians are about to enjoy a rare tax cut.
Capitol Alert
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
September 26, 2016 – 8:00 PM
California’s likely voters solidly support a fall initiative to extend higher income taxes on top earners, while a separate proposal to boost state taxes on tobacco is clinging to a majority vote, according to a new survey released Monday.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
September 20, 2016 – 4:41 PM
We Californians cough up about $250 billion in state and local taxes each year, one of the nation’s highest tax burdens at 12-plus percent of our personal incomes.
Read the rest of this entry »
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
September 19, 2016 – 3:21 PM
Nearly four decades after its passage, California’s Proposition 13 is still a contentious political landmark.
Natalie Kitroeff
August 29, 2016
Southern California is losing another manufacturing stalwart.
By Alicia Robinson / Staff Writer
Published: Aug. 19, 2016
Updated: Aug. 21, 2016 12:24 a.m.
Several Riverside County cities are hoping to cut through the election season noise and convince residents to support tax increases to pay for police, fire and other key services.
By Kevin Smith, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Posted: 08/09/16 – 1:54 PM PDT |
California’s costly tax and regulatory policies prompted more than 10,000 businesses to leave the state, reduce their operations or curtail plans to locate here between 2008 and 2015, according to a report from Spectrum Location Solutions.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
July 24, 2016 – 2:02 PM
When voters passed Gov. Jerry Brown’s “temporary” tax increase in 2012, they gave California the nation’s highest marginal income tax rates, topping out at 13.3 percent.
By Kevin Smith, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Posted: 07/19/16 – 6:00 PM PDT |
If you think California is a tough place to do business, you’re not alone.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
July 17, 2016 – 5:00 PM
County property tax assessors are reporting strong upticks in taxable values for the 2016-17 fiscal year that began July 1.
John Myers
July 14, 2016 – 4:20 P.M.
Backers of the effort to extend the lifespan of California’s tax rates on the most wealthy boosted their campaign coffers Thursday, with a $10-million contribution from the California Teachers Assn.
Capitol Alert
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
July 11, 2016 – 2:32 PM
A strong surge in real estate transactions, new commercial and residential construction and rising housing prices should generate a $3-plus billion increase in property tax revenues for schools and local governments during the current fiscal year.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
June 20, 2016 – 4:12 PM
When California’s “cap-and-trade” auction of carbon emission allowances imploded a month ago, it clobbered ambitious plans by Capitol politicians to spend many billions of dollars.
Sunday, June 19, 2016 – 12:00 a.m.
The economy is supposed to be doing just fine. Property taxes have all but fully recovered along with real estate prices.
But Inland Empire governments are expressing caution when discussing their finances.
California
The Associated Press
June 15, 2016 6:44 PM
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
California lawmakers have approved a $122.5 billion budget that funds state government for 2016-17. The budget was negotiated by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, and the top two legislative leaders, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon of Paramount and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, of Los Angeles.
Here’s a look at what’s in it, and some things that are not.
Natalie Kitroeff
June 6, 2016
Jacobs Engineering Group, one of the world’s largest engineering companies, is preparing to move employees from its Pasadena headquarters to Dallas, becoming the latest major corporation to relocate significant operations from California to Texas.
Capitol Alert
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
May 25, 2016 4:34 PM
Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature got some bad news Wednesday about plans to spend more than $3 billion in proceeds from the state’s “cap-and-trade” auction of carbon dioxide emission allowances.
California Elections
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
May 16, 2016 – 1:36 PM
California voters will face just one statewide measure on the June primary ballot, but they will pass judgment on at least 165 local government proposals, according to a compilation by government finance tracker Michael Coleman.
John Myers
May 15, 2016
California voters this fall will likely wade through the longest list of state propositions since Bill Clinton was president, a sizable batch of proposed laws that is likely to spark a record amount of campaign spending.
John Myers
May 11, 2016 – 2:07 P.M.
When Gov. Jerry Brown asked California voters to raise taxes in 2012 , he made clear that it was temporary, revenues needed to balance the books for only a few years.
Capitol Alert
By Jim Miller
jmiller@sacbee.com
April 27, 2016 – 2:29 PM
The wealthiest Californians paid nearly half of the state’s income taxes in 2014 after seeing an uptick in their average income from 2013, according to updated income distribution data compiled by the state Franchise Tax Board.
Capitol Alert
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
April 22, 2016 – 2:51 PM
California, whose state budget is highly dependent on volatile income taxes, is the least able big state to withstand a recession, according to a “stress test” conducted by Moody’s Investor Service.
Capitol Alert
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
April 20, 2016 – 2:00 PM
California voters are inclined to extend extra taxes on the state’s high-income residents to support public education and pass a new school construction bond issue, a poll by the Public Policy Institute of California has found.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
April 19, 2016 – 2:04 PM
There is a perpetual debate in California political circles over whether the state’s highest-in-the-nation income tax rates encourage the wealthy to take themselves and their money elsewhere.
Capitol Alert
By Taryn Luna
tluna@sacbee.com
April 14, 2016 – 1:00 PM
With the 2016 tax deadline on the horizon, it’s the time of year Californians grumble about Uncle Sam slashing their income.
Capitol Alert
By Jeremy B. White
jwhite@sacbee.com
April 12, 2016 – 3:27 PM
Elections come and go, legislative leaders rise and fall, but one constant remains in Sacramento: Soda taxes can’t get traction.
Liam Dillon
April 7, 2016
Californians are spending $2 billion more at the gas pump because of the state’s carbon rules, according to the state’s independent Legislative Analyst’s Office.
David Garrick
By David Garrick | March 23, 2016 – 8:35 p.m.
San Diego — In a decision that could have a sweeping impact across California, a new state appeals court ruling may ease approval of local tax increases if they are placed on the ballot by citizen’s initiative instead of by a government agency.
Patrick McGreevy
March 8, 2016
Alarmed by an obesity epidemic, two state lawmakers on Tuesday proposed a “health impact fee” of 2 cents per ounce on sugar-sweetened sodas and other drinks sold in California.
For years, corporate offices were based in Anaheim. The headquarters relocated 13 years ago to Carpinteria. (File Photo)
By Nancy Luna, Staff Writer
March 8, 2016 – Updated 5:10 p.m.
The parent company of Carl’s Jr., founded in Anaheim 60 years ago, is relocating its California headquarters to Nashville, Tenn.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 03/04/16 – 8:07 PM PST |
SAN BERNARDINO >> The week that began with the City Council putting off a key vote related to fire annexation until March 21 and hinting that it might not back it after all ended with a 4-0 vote to approve the item.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016 – 09:00 a.m.
It took the San Bernardino City Council long enough to figure out that a special district parcel tax, part of a plan to fund the county taking over the city’s fire department, was nothing more than a tax grab.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
February 29, 2016 – 6:10 PM
When Republicans gained a few seats in the Legislature two years ago, they regained their power over tax increases.
By Melanie Mason
February 29, 2016
Culminating a prolonged, wonky debate that has consumed the Capitol for months, legislators on Monday approved a new tax on healthcare plans that would help finance the state’s public healthcare program for the poor.
By Don Thompson, Associated Press
February 23, 2016
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s tax board voted Tuesday to lower the state excise tax on gasoline by 2.2 cents per gallon as of July 1.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
February 22, 2016 – 3:54 PM
Opposition to new taxes has been a bedrock stance for Republican legislators, one they can enforce because taxes require two-thirds legislative votes.
From Daily Tax Report
By Laura Mahoney
Feb. 9 — A California State Board of Equalization member is backing a bill to tighten monetary contributions to—or at the request of—board members with the goal of ending perceived conflicts of interest at the only elected tax board in the country.
California
Jonathan Cooper, Associated Press
February 8, 2016 – 6:26 PM
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
The California Legislature on Monday unveiled a bill imposing a new tax on health insurance plans that would prevent a massive $1.1 billion hole in the state budget.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
February 2, 2016 – 3:37 PM
Within the Capitol – and the media that cover it – there’s a tendency to conjoin Gov. Jerry Brown’s two tax-increase proposals.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
February 1, 2016 3:55 PM
California gasoline prices have been dropping sharply of late – below $2 a gallon in some areas.
Dan Walters
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
January 31, 2016 3:30 PM
California’s state and local governments hit us with about $250 billion in taxes every year, $6,000-plus per Californian.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 01/27/16 – 11:09 AM PST |
SAN BERNARDINO >> A plan to outsource the city Fire Department and add a parcel tax of $148 per year took a big step forward Wednesday with the unanimous approval of the agency in charge of overseeing that process.
Patrick McGreevy
January 22, 2016
Faced with plummeting gasoline tax revenue, state transportation officials have announced plans to cut funding for road and transit projects by $754 million over the next five years, the greatest reduction in two decades.
Capitol Alert
By Jim Miller
jmiller@sacbee.com
January 22, 2016 – 5:56 PM
If your monthly cellphone or landline bills seem higher these days, take a look at the state surcharges.
Friday, January 22, 2016 – 09:30 a.m
Price Alert! The average price of unleaded gas in California has dropped to a whopping $2.701 per gallon, according to tracking website Gasbuddy.com.
By Tracy Seipel
tseipel@mercurynews.com
Posted: 01/21/2016 – 12:01:48 PM PST
Updated: 01/21/2016 – 07:01:54 PM PST
California’s four largest health plans may be on the hook for $10 billion in state back taxes — and at least $1 billion every year going forward — if a closely watched legal case does not break their way.
Ben Adler
Tuesday, January 19, 2016 | Sacramento, CA
California voters could be asked this fall to touch what’s been an untouchable law: the property tax initiative known as Proposition 13. A potential November ballot proposal would raise taxes on the state’s highest-value properties and spend the money on anti-poverty programs.
Capitol Alert
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
January 12, 2016 10:46 AM
Less than a week after Gov. Jerry Brown criticized a ballot measure to extend temporary tax increases for containing the “fatal flaw” of circumventing California’s budget reserve requirements, proponents of the initiative said Tuesday that they have amended the proposal to address his complaint.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
January 10, 2016 3:30 PM
State taxation of multistate and multinational corporations is not an issue for the fainthearted.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
January 5, 2016 4:50 PM
As the Legislature reconvened this week, Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia quickly introduced a bill to exempt female hygiene products from sales taxes.
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What’s really in the year-end tax and spending bill?
By Bernie Becker
12/16/15 – 04:24 PM EST
Congress released more than 2,200 pages of legislation in the dead of night — containing $1.1 trillion in spending, about $680 billion in tax cuts and a string of other policy changes.
By Roll Call Staff
Posted on Dec. 16 at 10:52 a.m.
Both Democrats and Republicans won a few and lost a few in the $1.1 trillion spending bill and package of tax extensions that congressional negotiators agreed on late Tuesday.
Capitol Alert
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
December 14, 2015
The value of all taxable real estate in California has surpassed $5 trillion, according to the state Board of Equalization.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
December 8, 2015
Millions of Californians will be paying billions of dollars in local government and school property taxes this week.
Capitol Alert
By Dan Walters
walters@sacbee.com
December 4, 2015
California’s home prices have been escalating sharply as the state recovers from recession, but property taxes on those homes will rise only slightly, reports from two state agencies indicated Friday.
By Brian Faler
12/02/15 – 05:37 PM EST
Congress is eyeing a year-end budget-busting tax cut blowout.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
December 1, 2015
For years, the state has conducted something of a shell game to help finance Medi-Cal, its health insurance system for the poor that now covers nearly a third of Californians.
David Lazarus
November 24, 2015
The good news: Thanks to increased competition, wireless companies’ rates have dropped nearly 7% since 2008.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
November 22, 2015
As the Great Recession gripped California, state revenues plummeted by 20 percent and Capitol politicians and major stakeholders battled over which programs would take the hits.
Bill Hethcock, Staff Writer
Dallas Business Journal
Nov 11, 2015 – 10:05am PST
Roughly 9,000 California companies moved their headquarters or diverted projects to out-of-state locations in the last seven years, and Texas has been a prime beneficiary of the Golden State’s “hostile” business environment.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015 – 05:00 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
Estimable Economist Jay Prag joins Lou today on the show. They discuss whether or not everyone should pay taxes. If everyone is taking things from the government, shouldn’t we all be putting something in the pot?
Chris Megerian
October 18, 2015
A little more than a year ago, Gov. Jerry Brown was touting an outbreak of bipartisanship in the Capitol. Lawmakers from both parties backed crucial deals on water and state finances — “a high point in our work together,” the governor said.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015 – 05:00 p.m.
The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
October 4, 2015
The political kvetching over California taxes mimics the famous porridge passage in “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”
Capitol Alert
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
September 30, 2015
A new poll finds that nearly half of likely California voters favor temporarily extending Proposition 30’s sales and income tax hikes, but support falls to just 32 percent when asked if they should be made permanent.