Tim Anaya

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It’s Finally Infrastructure Week . . . But Is That a Good Thing?

At long last, it’s finally “Infrastructure Week.” On Wednesday, a group of Republican and Democrat senators resolved their final differences with President Biden and reached a long-elusive agreement on a bipartisan infrastructure bill authorizing $550 billion in new spending over 5 years.  Later that night, the Senate voted 67 to ...
Blog

More Mixed Messaging from Newsom Complicates Vaccination Push

Mixed messaging continues to be a problem for the Newsom administration in its efforts to get more Californians to get vaccinated. Right now, roughly 61 percent of Californians are fully vaccinated, complicating efforts to reach its 70 percent plus goal for herd immunity. The problem is perilous for Newsom on ...
Blog

Will SALT Cap Dilemma Thwart Biden’s Big Spending Plans?

The latest Washington buzz has the Senate likely voting on the bipartisan infrastructure deal and the federal budget resolution that will fuel President Biden’s big spending plans by sometime in August. But the debate over the repeal of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap threatens to be the ...
Blog

Monday’s Budget Vote Typical of Perhaps Least Open Budget Process in Recent Years

Lawmakers on Monday voted on what’s now commonly referred to as a “Budget Bill Jr.” Since the passage of Prop. 25, which enacted a majority vote budget and docked lawmaker pay if budgets were adopted past June 15, lawmakers have routinely passed on-time budgets to keep getting paid, regardless of ...
Blog

Restaurants, Customers Should Beware Government “Help” Over Food Delivery Caps

Ronald Reagan famously remarked that “the most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” Eater San Francisco reports that the City by the Bay “became the first city in the country to pass a permanent cap on the fees that delivery ...
Blog

Newsom, Lawmakers Thrown Pay Raise Hot Potato

That sound you heard at the State Capitol last week was constitutional officers and state lawmakers running for cover. “Gov. Gavin Newsom, California legislators and other state elected officials were approved to receive a 4.2% salary increase this year,” the Los Angeles Times reports. There is no bigger political hot ...
Blog

“Pay Our Interns” Activists Should Be Careful What They Wish For

During my past life at the State Capitol, I had the pleasure to mentor many great interns. I would host one or two interns at a time, who would work for four months during summer break or during the semester while attending college.  My former interns have become legislative chiefs ...
Blog

Legislative Democrats Enact Their State Budget Plan – How Will Newsom Respond?

On Wednesday, Legislative Democrats announced a budget “deal” amongst themselves, passing their own 2021-22 state budget plan.  Now the ball is in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s court to reach agreement on a final budget before the June 15 constitutional deadline. While the Los Angeles Times notes that “the $267 billion legislative ...
Blog

PRI’s 2021 Summer Reading List

Today marks the unofficial start of the summer season.  Unlike last year, Americans might be able to take a vacation and go somewhere this summer as we begin to turn the corner on the Covid-19 pandemic.  What’s one of the most important things you’ll need for your summer vacation planning ...
Blog

Extra Time to File Doesn’t Mask Pain of California’s Huge State Tax Burden

California taxpayers – and all Americans were given a bit of breathing room this year when the IRS announced that this year’s tax deadline would be May 17th, instead of the usual April 15th. The extra month given us to pay and file our 2020 taxes doesn’t mean that Californians ...
Blog

It’s Finally Infrastructure Week . . . But Is That a Good Thing?

At long last, it’s finally “Infrastructure Week.” On Wednesday, a group of Republican and Democrat senators resolved their final differences with President Biden and reached a long-elusive agreement on a bipartisan infrastructure bill authorizing $550 billion in new spending over 5 years.  Later that night, the Senate voted 67 to ...
Blog

More Mixed Messaging from Newsom Complicates Vaccination Push

Mixed messaging continues to be a problem for the Newsom administration in its efforts to get more Californians to get vaccinated. Right now, roughly 61 percent of Californians are fully vaccinated, complicating efforts to reach its 70 percent plus goal for herd immunity. The problem is perilous for Newsom on ...
Blog

Will SALT Cap Dilemma Thwart Biden’s Big Spending Plans?

The latest Washington buzz has the Senate likely voting on the bipartisan infrastructure deal and the federal budget resolution that will fuel President Biden’s big spending plans by sometime in August. But the debate over the repeal of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap threatens to be the ...
Blog

Monday’s Budget Vote Typical of Perhaps Least Open Budget Process in Recent Years

Lawmakers on Monday voted on what’s now commonly referred to as a “Budget Bill Jr.” Since the passage of Prop. 25, which enacted a majority vote budget and docked lawmaker pay if budgets were adopted past June 15, lawmakers have routinely passed on-time budgets to keep getting paid, regardless of ...
Blog

Restaurants, Customers Should Beware Government “Help” Over Food Delivery Caps

Ronald Reagan famously remarked that “the most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” Eater San Francisco reports that the City by the Bay “became the first city in the country to pass a permanent cap on the fees that delivery ...
Blog

Newsom, Lawmakers Thrown Pay Raise Hot Potato

That sound you heard at the State Capitol last week was constitutional officers and state lawmakers running for cover. “Gov. Gavin Newsom, California legislators and other state elected officials were approved to receive a 4.2% salary increase this year,” the Los Angeles Times reports. There is no bigger political hot ...
Blog

“Pay Our Interns” Activists Should Be Careful What They Wish For

During my past life at the State Capitol, I had the pleasure to mentor many great interns. I would host one or two interns at a time, who would work for four months during summer break or during the semester while attending college.  My former interns have become legislative chiefs ...
Blog

Legislative Democrats Enact Their State Budget Plan – How Will Newsom Respond?

On Wednesday, Legislative Democrats announced a budget “deal” amongst themselves, passing their own 2021-22 state budget plan.  Now the ball is in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s court to reach agreement on a final budget before the June 15 constitutional deadline. While the Los Angeles Times notes that “the $267 billion legislative ...
Blog

PRI’s 2021 Summer Reading List

Today marks the unofficial start of the summer season.  Unlike last year, Americans might be able to take a vacation and go somewhere this summer as we begin to turn the corner on the Covid-19 pandemic.  What’s one of the most important things you’ll need for your summer vacation planning ...
Blog

Extra Time to File Doesn’t Mask Pain of California’s Huge State Tax Burden

California taxpayers – and all Americans were given a bit of breathing room this year when the IRS announced that this year’s tax deadline would be May 17th, instead of the usual April 15th. The extra month given us to pay and file our 2020 taxes doesn’t mean that Californians ...
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