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Sweeping Expansion of Workers Comp Benefits Could Hit Struggling CA Businesses Hard

There’s been a growing debate in California and nationally about extending workers’ compensation benefits for workers who are impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Some states are moving to make front line workers battling COVID-19 to be eligible for workers’ comp.  Politico reports that “at least five smaller states have made ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – May 8

Rowena Itchon – Love in the Time of Coronavirus Watch some of our front line medical personnel battling COVID-19 and helping people stay alive take a much-needed break to recreate the iconic scene from Titanic, with an usual, personal protective equipment-themed twist. Kerry Jackson – Dorothy’s Song, COVID-19 Version Somewhere, ...
Blog

Is California Going To Open Without Newsom’s Approval?

Three California counties have earned the title of “free counties.” They “earned” the label for reopening ahead of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement that Phase 2 of the statewide reopening would begin soon. Some small businesses outside of the “free counties” of Modoc, Sutter, and Yuba, so designated by Press California, ...
Blog

And The Damage From AB 5 Begins

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has officially filed suit against Uber and Lyft for violating Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5). The action is a clear signal that the state’s policy leaders are determined to maximize the economic damage from this ill-considered policy at a time when millions have been furloughed ...
Blog

Coronavirus Chronicles: Why for Some Workers, Unemployment Makes More Sense

Roughly 30 million people have filed for unemployment since the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the nation’s economy.  Economists estimate that the unemployment rate now ranges from 15 to 20 percent – numbers not seen since the Great Depression nearly a century ago.  How H How quickly the economy bounces ...
Blog

Growing Chorus Says Time to Reopen Areas with Few to Zero COVID-19 Cases

When is California going to lift the shelter-in-place orders?  As temperatures soar and people gain cabin fever after weeks of being stuck inside, it’s the question on everyone’s minds these days. In his April 28 press conference, Gov. Gavin Newsom said that “we believe we are weeks, not months away, ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – May Day Edition

Kerry Jackson – When Will California Reopen? Question asked: Some states begin re-opening from stay home orders – is California close behind? The bet here is California will be the last state to fully open. Rowena Itchon – Blue Angels Fly Over Philadelphia and New York A Cockpit View: The Blue ...
Blog

Opening America

“Healthy people have rights too,” complained my 89-year old mother, who’s miffed because we’ve refused to take her to her favorite grocery store.  Mom has joined the tens of thousands of people across America who believe that enough is enough. From California to Pennsylvania, from Michigan to Texas, people have ...
Blog

Single Payer Poll Watch: Coronavirus Leads to Spike in Support

The coronavirus pandemic has put public health top of mind for a majority of Americans, despite the overwhelming concern about how the U.S. economy will survive in the coming weeks. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold, the political and public policy debate is set for a renewed battle over ...
Blog

Can Taxpayers Afford a Big Spending Sacramento “Economic Recovery Plan”?

Speaker Pelosi and her allies in Congress received significant pollical pushback for using the COVID-19 crisis to enact their budget wish list in the $2 billion “phase 3” stimulus. Recently, Rowena Itchon wrote on Right by the Bay about tens of millions being spent on priorities for Democrats like propping ...
Blog

Sweeping Expansion of Workers Comp Benefits Could Hit Struggling CA Businesses Hard

There’s been a growing debate in California and nationally about extending workers’ compensation benefits for workers who are impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Some states are moving to make front line workers battling COVID-19 to be eligible for workers’ comp.  Politico reports that “at least five smaller states have made ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – May 8

Rowena Itchon – Love in the Time of Coronavirus Watch some of our front line medical personnel battling COVID-19 and helping people stay alive take a much-needed break to recreate the iconic scene from Titanic, with an usual, personal protective equipment-themed twist. Kerry Jackson – Dorothy’s Song, COVID-19 Version Somewhere, ...
Blog

Is California Going To Open Without Newsom’s Approval?

Three California counties have earned the title of “free counties.” They “earned” the label for reopening ahead of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement that Phase 2 of the statewide reopening would begin soon. Some small businesses outside of the “free counties” of Modoc, Sutter, and Yuba, so designated by Press California, ...
Blog

And The Damage From AB 5 Begins

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has officially filed suit against Uber and Lyft for violating Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5). The action is a clear signal that the state’s policy leaders are determined to maximize the economic damage from this ill-considered policy at a time when millions have been furloughed ...
Blog

Coronavirus Chronicles: Why for Some Workers, Unemployment Makes More Sense

Roughly 30 million people have filed for unemployment since the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the nation’s economy.  Economists estimate that the unemployment rate now ranges from 15 to 20 percent – numbers not seen since the Great Depression nearly a century ago.  How H How quickly the economy bounces ...
Blog

Growing Chorus Says Time to Reopen Areas with Few to Zero COVID-19 Cases

When is California going to lift the shelter-in-place orders?  As temperatures soar and people gain cabin fever after weeks of being stuck inside, it’s the question on everyone’s minds these days. In his April 28 press conference, Gov. Gavin Newsom said that “we believe we are weeks, not months away, ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – May Day Edition

Kerry Jackson – When Will California Reopen? Question asked: Some states begin re-opening from stay home orders – is California close behind? The bet here is California will be the last state to fully open. Rowena Itchon – Blue Angels Fly Over Philadelphia and New York A Cockpit View: The Blue ...
Blog

Opening America

“Healthy people have rights too,” complained my 89-year old mother, who’s miffed because we’ve refused to take her to her favorite grocery store.  Mom has joined the tens of thousands of people across America who believe that enough is enough. From California to Pennsylvania, from Michigan to Texas, people have ...
Blog

Single Payer Poll Watch: Coronavirus Leads to Spike in Support

The coronavirus pandemic has put public health top of mind for a majority of Americans, despite the overwhelming concern about how the U.S. economy will survive in the coming weeks. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold, the political and public policy debate is set for a renewed battle over ...
Blog

Can Taxpayers Afford a Big Spending Sacramento “Economic Recovery Plan”?

Speaker Pelosi and her allies in Congress received significant pollical pushback for using the COVID-19 crisis to enact their budget wish list in the $2 billion “phase 3” stimulus. Recently, Rowena Itchon wrote on Right by the Bay about tens of millions being spent on priorities for Democrats like propping ...
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