Political Stories Top stories  Jerry Brown charts cautious course in State of the State address — Gov. Jerry Brown, charting a cautious course in his State of the State address, warned Thursday of a future economic downturn and urged lawmakers to restrain spending despite state budget surpluses. Sacramento Bee article; LA Times article; San Francisco Chronicle article; AP article; KQED report; ‘Jerry […]

Political Stories Top stories Backers of $15 minimum wage submit signatures to get on ballot – Supporters of a $15-an-hour state minimum wage submitted signatures Tuesday to qualify the measure for the November ballot, setting the state for a contentious fight between labor and business groups. San Francisco Chronicle article  Dan Walters: California’s big benefit debt load […]

Political Stories Top stories  Dan Walters: California has big money, hot politics in poverty — Given the huge number of poor Californians, the politics of poverty are likely to become even more contentious. But so far, at least, politicians have focused on its effects, rather than causes, and have been reluctant to address its deeper issues, […]

Political Stories Top stories  Amount of lobbying done in shadows is growing, California ethics officials agree — Top state ethics officials have agreed that weak laws allow oil companies, labor groups and other special interests to conceal how they spend much of their money trying to influence state government, and that the amount of lobbying in […]

Political Stories Top stories  Rare murmurs about veto overrides in California Assembly — It’s a power play the Legislature hasn’t invoked in years: lawmakers are making noises about overriding one of Gov. Jerry Brown’s vetoes for the first time in Brown’s current tenure. Sacramento Bee article  Patterson wants politicians who quit mid-term to pay for special elections — Assemblyman […]

Political Stories Top stories Gov. Jerry Brown opposes $9-billion school bond measure – Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday came out against a $9-billion school bond measure that will go before voters in November, erecting a political hurdle for advocates of new spending on school construction. LA Times article CalChamber sends ‘job killer’ bills to its personal graveyard — Every spring […]

Political Stories Top stories  Poll finds rare agreement in California on some gun-control steps — Californians on both sides of the political aisle strongly agree that it’s a good idea to ban gun sales to people on the federal “no fly” list and require anyone buying ammunition to undergo a background check, but they remain split on […]

Political Stories Top stories Dan Walters: Tax issue nags Jerry Brown — State taxation of multistate and multinational corporations is not an issue for the fainthearted. The formulas for calculating their tax liabilities are complex and interpreting them has involved decades of political and legal wrangling, fueled by the issue’s multibillion-dollar stakes. The issue bugged Jerry Brown during […]

Political Stories Top stories By the numbers: Analyzing the governor’s budget – Gov. Jerry Brown fired the opening salvo of California’s budget season on Jan. 7 when he unveiled his spending proposal for the fiscal year that will start July 1. While the final state budget will likely look much different in June when it is […]

Political Stories Top stories Brown’s budget dominance starts with firm grip on revenue forecasts — Brown deftly uses the single most powerful budget-writing tool at his disposal: the official forecast of tax revenues, the foundation on which all spending plans are built. Lower the forecasts, say budget watchers, and you neutralize most every request to expand […]