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California sees slowing population growth

It’s time for some fun with numbers, dissecting a new state report on population trends. The big number is 39.8 million. That’s the state Department of Finance’s latest calculation of California’s population as of Jan. 1. It’s doubtless a little low, since California has a very large number of residents who fly below the official […]

经过 丹·沃尔特斯 • 5 月 7, 2018

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Internet purchases spark fight over sales taxes

Sales taxes, once the primary source of revenue for the state budget, now play second fiddle to income taxes. That said, sales taxes are still very important to local governments, particularly cities, and often affect local land use decisions – favoring tax-generating retail business over housing, for instance. However, consumer trends are changing, radically affecting […]

经过 丹·沃尔特斯 • 5 月 6, 2018

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California again goes to war with Trump

It’s a game of three-cushion billiards, being played not in a dingy pool hall but in Donald Trump’s Washington, Jerry Brown’s Sacramento and in the executive suites of major automakers. Trump’s administration, answering pleas of auto executives, wants to roll back more stringent fuel efficiency standards promulgated during the final days of the predecessor Obama […]

经过 丹·沃尔特斯 • 5 月 3, 2018

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Political x-factors can cut both ways

We may assume that voters make their choices after carefully studying candidates and their positions on issues. That assumption lies at the heart of earnest efforts in news media and elsewhere to provide voters with as much objective information as possible. However, we also know that voters often make snap judgments based on ideological predispositions […]

经过 丹·沃尔特斯 • 5 月 2, 2018

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Commentary: Voters face anti-tax measures as cycle continues

California’s perennial debate over taxation is showing up in ballot measures placed before voters.

经过 丹·沃尔特斯 • 4 月 30, 2018

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Commentary: Who will control land use in California?

The death of recent housing legislation crystallized a conflict that’s been simmering in California for decades.

经过 丹·沃尔特斯 • 4 月 29, 2018

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Stalemate weakens fund for jobless benefits

Gov. Jerry Brown regularly warns that California is overdue for an economic downturn that could devastate tax revenues. Even a moderate recession, his administration projects, could cost the state $60 billion in lower revenues over three years, underscoring the need to build a hefty reserve as a cushion. Brown’s “rainy day fund” tops out at […]

经过 丹·沃尔特斯 • 4 月 26, 2018

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Legislature’s hypocrisy prevails as bill dies

The California Legislature, as noted in this space previously, has a shameful history of exempting itself from the countless laws it imposes on everyone else. Last week, the Assembly’s Public Employment, Retirement and Social Security Committee had a golden opportunity to close one of the Capitol’s many hypocritical loopholes. But, true to historic form, its […]

经过 丹·沃尔特斯 • 4 月 25, 2018

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‘A recent article created a misleadingly negative impression’

Editor’s note: Thank you for your letter about our report on single-payer health care. We encourage feedback and will update our work as appropriate. Trust and the integrity of our work is at the core of all we do at CALmatters. We are committed to a fair and balanced report on California policy and politics and […]

经过 Reader Reactions • 4 月 23, 2018

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Will $12 billion tax bite drive rich from California?

California is a deep blue state and one manifestation of its left-leaning politics is a very high level of taxation, particularly levies on personal income. The state has the nation’s highest income tax rates, topping out at 13.3 percent of taxable income, and depends on those taxes for 70 percent of its general fund budget. […]

经过 丹·沃尔特斯 • 4 月 23, 2018