For Californians concerned about sky-high gas prices and a looming increase to the state’s fuel excise tax: Never fear, the Assembly Select Committee on Gasoline Supply and Pricing is here! What exactly will the committee do? It will “investigate the gas price gouging that has inflated prices at a rate equivalent to 100% per year,” […]
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Posted inCalifornia Legislature, Election 2018, Politics
Bad timing? Assembly Republicans are shaking up their leadership
Here’s why this development could affect the state GOP’s chances on Tuesday.
Posted inWhatMatters
A changing of the guard in Sacramento
Three days before California’s new state Legislature is set to be sworn into office — and to convene a special session focused on oil industry profits — it’s still not clear who will occupy two of the seats. As of Thursday evening, Democrat Christy Holstege and Republican Greg Wallis each had 50% of the vote […]
Posted inWhatMatters
Budget whiplash: California faces $25 billion deficit
$25 billion. That’s the estimated deficit Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers will confront when crafting a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, the Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal advisor announced Wednesday. The projection marks a stunning reversal from back-to-back years of unprecedented prosperity: The budget for California’s current fiscal year clocked in at a whopping $308 […]
Posted inWhatMatters
Tensions rise between Newsom, mayors over homelessness
As voters cast ballots in the last few days leading up to California’s Nov. 8 election, who will they blame for the state’s persistent housing and homelessness crises? Gov. Gavin Newsom’s surprise Thursday announcement — that he’s withholding $1 billion in state homelessness funding until local governments and service providers come up with more ambitious […]
Posted inWhatMatters
The coming NIMBY reckoning?
A specter is haunting California’s affluent suburbs and beachside communities: The “builder’s remedy.” It’s the reason that a single developer submitted plans for 4,500 apartments in Santa Monica — more new units than the city has built in a decade. It’s why notoriously housing-averse Redondo Beach may be forced to permit 2,300 new units along […]
Posted inWhatMatters
California GOP demands emergency action on taxes, crime
California Republicans are zeroing in on the three issues on which they say Democrats may be most vulnerable heading into the Nov. 8 election: The rising cost of living, crime and homelessness. On Tuesday, 26 of the 28 current Republican lawmakers asked the Democratic leaders of the state Assembly and Senate to “immediately” reconvene the […]
Posted inWhatMatters
Californians confront rising cost of living
If you’ve got your mind on your money and your money on your mind, you aren’t alone. Driven largely by increases in the cost of food, housing and health care, inflation rose 8.2% in September compared to the same time last year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Thursday. And the core inflation rate […]
Posted inWhatMatters
Fight escalates between Newsom, oil industry
Gov. Gavin Newsom hadn’t even finished dispensing with all of the bills on his desk ahead of Friday’s midnight deadline before he issued a call for new legislation. “We’re not going to stand by while greedy oil companies fleece Californians,” the governor said in a stern Twitter video, citing a lopsided surge in gas prices […]
Posted inWhatMatters
As gas prices soar, state on brink of sending rebates
Remember when Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers struck a deal a couple of months ago to send millions of California taxpayers between $200 and $1,050 to help cover the rising cost of living? Well, a week from today, the state is set to begin depositing the first round of payments in Californians’ bank accounts. […]