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Famously one of the world’s largest economies, California is a major player in just about every field — from agriculture to tech. We delve into the impact of the state’s dollars-and-cents decisions.

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A home burns as the Camp Fire rages through Paradise on Nov. 8, 2018. Photo by Noah Berger, AP Photo Four things California can do as home insurers retreat
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Housing lines the street of a classic Boston neighborhood. Photo via Pixabay
Economy
Should California look to Massachusetts to fix its housing crisis?
While California tops the list of states with insane housing costs, it’s by no means a uniquely Golden State phenomenon. Building affordable housing—and particularly getting cities and other localities to permit its construction—is a tough endeavor that has bedeviled state policymakers across the country. So where should Californians look to solve a problem that feels so intractable? Affordable housing experts suggest legislators find inspiration in Massachusetts. For more than 40 years, the state’s signature affordable housing policy—Massachusetts “40B”—has served as a model for how states can motivate and sometimes bully reluctant localities into meeting their fair share of affordable housing.
By • September 13, 2017
Five dancing couples
Economy
Here we go again: California does the Taxes Two-Step
At this point, it’s practically a California tradition. First, state judges find a loophole in California’s constitutional bulwark against new, higher taxes. Then conservative legislators and anti-tax activists rush in to patch the hole with a new ballot proposition. This week, the state Supreme Court made the first move in this familiar two-step by issuing a ruling that both anti-tax crusaders and proponents of more local investment say could make it much easier for city and county governments to raise new taxes. Now California conservatives are counter-punching.
By • August 30, 2017
woman applying for job
Economy
California’s gender pay gap: How two proposed laws aim to close it
(Update: Gov. Jerry Brown split on these bills, signing into law AB 168 to prohibit job interview questions about previous salary, but vetoing AB 1209, which would have required companies to submit pay data categorized by gender, race, and ethnicity. The governor said he worried thatt bill would “encourage more litigation than pay equity.”) California […]
By • July 25, 2017
The most debated portion of the Garcia bill involves an existing loophole under the current cap and trade law that allows industrial facilities to get around retrofitting old, less-efficient equipment by purchasing pollution offsets and continuing to emit. But in addressing one cap-and-trade loophole, Garcia’s bill appears to open another: While it requires local air boards to establish equipment retrofitting programs, because the original law’s language was not struck, facilities could continue to trade pollution credits in lieu of replacing older equipment. Such a program, known as RECLAIM, is operated by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. During floor debate, Garcia made it clear that her bill did not intend to create that loophole, but the language remained in the version that passed.
Economy
Newly passed pollution bill is ‘downpayment’ to environmental justice
As the quieter ‘companion bill’ to Monday’s cap-and-trade extension legislation, Assembly Bill 617 sought to placate environmental justice advocates who have increasingly complained that the state’s globally ambitious climate policy overlooks a local problem: poor California communities living in the shadow of polluters. The bill, sponsored by Democratic Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia of Bell Gardens, was […]
By • July 18, 2017

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Economy - Page 79 of 85 - CalMatters
Famously one of the world’s largest economies, California is a major player in just about every field — from agriculture to tech. We delve into the impact of the state’s dollars-and-cents decisions.
CalMatters
California, explained