Economy

The cost of retirement benefits for public employees from California's state state and local governments and schools and colleges has more than tripled since 2003—putting so much pressure on government budgets that many are having to choose between service cuts and raising taxes. We explain the forces at work.

California's focus: what to do with an expected surplus of at least $6.1 billion. Republicans say return it to California’s 40 million residents as a nice tax refund. The governor's priority is to fill up the state's rainy day fund. Democratic legislators mostly want to spend it.

State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León is proposing an end run for Californians to deduct the full value of their state and local taxes from their federal tax bills.

The 2018 elections are coming—and those of you who don’t spend your waking hours monitoring the secretary of state’s website may have some questions. Here’s a quick primer for anyone resolving to enter 2018 as a more informed citizen.

Would California withhold clean car rebates from Tesla customers if the electric car maker doesn't meet the state's evolving labor standards?

"Please, call your Republican representative and tell them: 'Vote no on this tax monstrosity,'" Gov. Jerry Brown tells Californians.

Some Californians are breathing a sigh of relief now that House and Senate Republicans have agreed to a partial preservation of state and local income taxes, but a lot of taxpayers will still be unhappy.

Gov. Jerry Brown's chief fiscal advisor says the Republican tax plan will raise the cost of homeownership by scaling back the mortgage interest deduction, making it harder to buy property in California given the state's high cost of housing.

Four years after Gov. Jerry Brown launched his signature program to boost California jobs by awarding tax credits to the businesses that create them, businesses have left two thirds of those available credits unclaimed—a sign that most expected jobs have yet to materialize. Nor can the state say for sure how many of the administration’s 83,414 projected jobs over five years have actually been created. State offices responsible for awarding and monitoring the California Competes tax credits say they aren’t keeping count.

In the past year, CALmatters, Capital Public Radio and the Los Angeles Times have partnered to examine the history of the state’s pension woes and how key decisions to boost public workers’ benefits without setting aside extra money to pay for them have threatened the bottom lines for universities as well as state and local governments. Now, we’re turning our attention to schools.