Tim Anaya
Blog
CEQA Strikes Again in Holding Up Major Homebuilding Project
Recently, the Southern California Association of Governments voted on new housing development goals for the region for the coming decade. Its vote requires cities and counties to make plans to zone for up to 1.34 million new homes by the end of the decade. The need to build additional new ...
Blog
New Caltrans Report Latest Reminders That Sacramento Continues to Shortchange Congestion Relief
Caltrans last week released a draft of its 2021 “State Highway System Maintenance Plan,” which is a biannual report estimating the state’s highway repair needs, available funding, and strategies for keeping the state’s roadways running efficiently over the next decade. The Sacramento Bee’s headline on the report’s release says it ...
Blog
Maybe It Won’t Be So Easy to Pass These Tax Hikes
Much of the political energy in Sacramento and Washington lately has focused on taxes. Speculation has focused on which taxes liberal politicians will raise, and by how much. While pundits are all but declaring it a fait accompli, two recent developments suggest it will be more difficult than first thought. ...
Blog
Government Mandates Big Reason Why Californians Pay More for Gas
Gas prices in California and across the country have been rising sharply since the start of the year. According to the Orange County Register, “the cost of an average gallon of gasoline has climbed to “the highest it’s been in 67 weeks.” As of March 17, average gas prices in ...
Blog
Stimulus Plan a Bailout Bonanza for California
With Congress on Wednesday giving final approval to President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, who is the biggest winner from Washington’s biggest ever spending spree? State and local governments in California. In music to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ears, a virtual Brink’s truck is about deliver a mountain of cash from ...
Blog
Is Stockton’s Basic Income Scheme Actually Working?
Proponents of Stockton’s universal basic income (UBI) pilot project – known as the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, or SEED – released a report last week detailing its first year findings. The report’s main claim is receiving UBI boosted full-time work. In February 2019, 28 percent of recipients had full-time employment, ...
Blog
House Covid Bill More About Politics Than Immediate Covid Relief
Late Friday, the House took its first vote to pass President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, the first step toward their goal of enacting the plan into law before a March 14 deadline when some unemployment benefits will expire. Much of last week’s media coverage of the plan centered around ...
Blog
‘And Now, The Rest of the Story’ on Controversial Voter Outreach Sweetheart Deal
No one who is younger than 40 will remember the late legendary radio commentator Paul Harvey. Every afternoon, he would begin his daily radio program by promising to tell us “the rest of the story.” Thanks to a provision slipped into a budget trailer bill last week, Californians now know ...
Blog
Cheers to Giving Restaurants Freedom to Sell To-Go Cocktails with Dinner
If you’re a foodie like me, one of the worst parts of the Covid-19 pandemic has been not being able to go out to a great restaurant for lunch or dinner. It’s been sad to see many of my favorite restaurants here in Sacramento – including Biba, 33rd Street Bistro, ...
Blog
Should California Legislative Staff Be Unionized?
California is struggling with its Covid-19 recovery efforts. More than 941,000 people are still waiting for their Covid unemployment benefit claims to be processed. A recent San Francisco Chronicle headline proclaimed, “Newsom’s $2 billion plan to reopen California schools fizzles.” California now ranks dead last in vaccine distribution according to ...
CEQA Strikes Again in Holding Up Major Homebuilding Project
Recently, the Southern California Association of Governments voted on new housing development goals for the region for the coming decade. Its vote requires cities and counties to make plans to zone for up to 1.34 million new homes by the end of the decade. The need to build additional new ...
New Caltrans Report Latest Reminders That Sacramento Continues to Shortchange Congestion Relief
Caltrans last week released a draft of its 2021 “State Highway System Maintenance Plan,” which is a biannual report estimating the state’s highway repair needs, available funding, and strategies for keeping the state’s roadways running efficiently over the next decade. The Sacramento Bee’s headline on the report’s release says it ...
Maybe It Won’t Be So Easy to Pass These Tax Hikes
Much of the political energy in Sacramento and Washington lately has focused on taxes. Speculation has focused on which taxes liberal politicians will raise, and by how much. While pundits are all but declaring it a fait accompli, two recent developments suggest it will be more difficult than first thought. ...
Government Mandates Big Reason Why Californians Pay More for Gas
Gas prices in California and across the country have been rising sharply since the start of the year. According to the Orange County Register, “the cost of an average gallon of gasoline has climbed to “the highest it’s been in 67 weeks.” As of March 17, average gas prices in ...
Stimulus Plan a Bailout Bonanza for California
With Congress on Wednesday giving final approval to President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, who is the biggest winner from Washington’s biggest ever spending spree? State and local governments in California. In music to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ears, a virtual Brink’s truck is about deliver a mountain of cash from ...
Is Stockton’s Basic Income Scheme Actually Working?
Proponents of Stockton’s universal basic income (UBI) pilot project – known as the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, or SEED – released a report last week detailing its first year findings. The report’s main claim is receiving UBI boosted full-time work. In February 2019, 28 percent of recipients had full-time employment, ...
House Covid Bill More About Politics Than Immediate Covid Relief
Late Friday, the House took its first vote to pass President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, the first step toward their goal of enacting the plan into law before a March 14 deadline when some unemployment benefits will expire. Much of last week’s media coverage of the plan centered around ...
‘And Now, The Rest of the Story’ on Controversial Voter Outreach Sweetheart Deal
No one who is younger than 40 will remember the late legendary radio commentator Paul Harvey. Every afternoon, he would begin his daily radio program by promising to tell us “the rest of the story.” Thanks to a provision slipped into a budget trailer bill last week, Californians now know ...
Cheers to Giving Restaurants Freedom to Sell To-Go Cocktails with Dinner
If you’re a foodie like me, one of the worst parts of the Covid-19 pandemic has been not being able to go out to a great restaurant for lunch or dinner. It’s been sad to see many of my favorite restaurants here in Sacramento – including Biba, 33rd Street Bistro, ...
Should California Legislative Staff Be Unionized?
California is struggling with its Covid-19 recovery efforts. More than 941,000 people are still waiting for their Covid unemployment benefit claims to be processed. A recent San Francisco Chronicle headline proclaimed, “Newsom’s $2 billion plan to reopen California schools fizzles.” California now ranks dead last in vaccine distribution according to ...
