Economy

"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.

As parents and students start writing checks for the first in-state tuition hike in seven years at the University of California, they hope the extra money will buy a better education.

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.

Democrats are taking their concerns about the GOP tax plan to congressional delegates, highlighting the pain it would inflict on homeowners, college students and even victims of the Northern California wildfires.

All 14 California House delegates voted today to back a budget blueprint that could eliminate state and local tax deductions, a move that would cost one out of three taxpayers thousands of dollars.

Business groups are threatening to wage a pricey campaign to stop California’s Republican officials from trying to repeal a new state gas tax—warning them not to “create new political adversaries.” But the politicians aren’t flinching.