Unemployment
Blog
How 2020 Was Good and Bad for California Governor Gavin Newsom
In the wild year that was 2020, many political stars rose and fell. None may have gone on quite the roller coaster ride than California Governor Newsom. Since each month of last year felt like a lifetime, I thought I’d review some of the good and bad moments from Newsom’s ...
Blog
At The Intersection Of Lockdown Business Destruction And A Minimum-Wage Hike
Way back in August, in what seems like an entirely different historical era, when California was open relative to the restrictions we’re under today, 44% of small business owners said they were at risk of permanent closure in the next six months, unless they received additional stimulus funding. Six percent ...
Commentary
The illogical California lockdown orders
Get ready to stay home indefinitely, my fellow Californians. Gov. Gavin Newsom has suggested that the stay-at-home order he issued Dec. 3 will likely be extended well into January. So for a few more weeks — at least — most Californians won’t be able to engage in a wide range ...
Agriculture
Preparing for Another Drought
California’s historically severe drought, which ended in March 2019, had dominated Capitol discussions during its eight-year run, yet had not led to any dramatic changes in the way the state manages its water resources. This seems hard to fathom, given that state officials continue to warn about the impact of climate ...
Blog
California’s Scandal-Plagued Unemployment Agency
The number of Californians certified for unemployment insurance is now at 1.6 million compared to October last year before the pandemic, when just 260,000 Californians received unemployment checks. Going into the holidays, a heart-breaking one in 10 Californians are unemployed. Even more anguishing, the state’s Employment Development Department (EDD), the ...
Blog
Winners and Losers – Week of December 4
Tim Anaya Senior Director of Communications and the Sacramento Office Winner – The Flowbee. Remember that great contraption you could plug into your vacuum cleaner and give yourself a haircut at home that they used sell on late-night informercials in the 1990’s? Long forgotten, the Flowbee made a big comeback ...
California
The (Back) Rent Is Too Damn High
Did someone say that suspending the responsibilities for renters to make their payments due to the pandemic on time would create problems? Of course they did. And of course it has. By the end of the year, Californians will owe as much as $1.7 billion in back rent, says a ...
California
PRI’s Wayne Winegarden comments on California paid leave expansion law
Title: Budget trailer bill expands paid leave in California; lawmakers pass on health care consolidations requiring approval from attorney general By: Sarah Downey, Northern California Record A bill that would have mandated the attorney general approve health care provider consolidations failed to pass the Legislature late last month, but a budget trailer bill on ...
Blog
CalChamber “Job Killer” List Is One of the Few Watchdogs for Small Business
Most of the California business community is at the mercy of California’s progressive state legislature. It is easy to forget, especially with Silicon Valley pumping out inflated IPOs, that small businesses are the backbone of the economy. The U.S. Small Business Administration counts four million small business that call California ...
Blog
What Happened on the Last Night of the Legislative Session?
The end of the California Legislative session is typically a celebrated time in the halls of the state capitol. Legislators and staff are tired yet festive as they work toward wrapping up a long year of running their bills. A long week of all-day floor sessions is cemented by an ...
How 2020 Was Good and Bad for California Governor Gavin Newsom
In the wild year that was 2020, many political stars rose and fell. None may have gone on quite the roller coaster ride than California Governor Newsom. Since each month of last year felt like a lifetime, I thought I’d review some of the good and bad moments from Newsom’s ...
At The Intersection Of Lockdown Business Destruction And A Minimum-Wage Hike
Way back in August, in what seems like an entirely different historical era, when California was open relative to the restrictions we’re under today, 44% of small business owners said they were at risk of permanent closure in the next six months, unless they received additional stimulus funding. Six percent ...
The illogical California lockdown orders
Get ready to stay home indefinitely, my fellow Californians. Gov. Gavin Newsom has suggested that the stay-at-home order he issued Dec. 3 will likely be extended well into January. So for a few more weeks — at least — most Californians won’t be able to engage in a wide range ...
Preparing for Another Drought
California’s historically severe drought, which ended in March 2019, had dominated Capitol discussions during its eight-year run, yet had not led to any dramatic changes in the way the state manages its water resources. This seems hard to fathom, given that state officials continue to warn about the impact of climate ...
California’s Scandal-Plagued Unemployment Agency
The number of Californians certified for unemployment insurance is now at 1.6 million compared to October last year before the pandemic, when just 260,000 Californians received unemployment checks. Going into the holidays, a heart-breaking one in 10 Californians are unemployed. Even more anguishing, the state’s Employment Development Department (EDD), the ...
Winners and Losers – Week of December 4
Tim Anaya Senior Director of Communications and the Sacramento Office Winner – The Flowbee. Remember that great contraption you could plug into your vacuum cleaner and give yourself a haircut at home that they used sell on late-night informercials in the 1990’s? Long forgotten, the Flowbee made a big comeback ...
The (Back) Rent Is Too Damn High
Did someone say that suspending the responsibilities for renters to make their payments due to the pandemic on time would create problems? Of course they did. And of course it has. By the end of the year, Californians will owe as much as $1.7 billion in back rent, says a ...
PRI’s Wayne Winegarden comments on California paid leave expansion law
Title: Budget trailer bill expands paid leave in California; lawmakers pass on health care consolidations requiring approval from attorney general By: Sarah Downey, Northern California Record A bill that would have mandated the attorney general approve health care provider consolidations failed to pass the Legislature late last month, but a budget trailer bill on ...
CalChamber “Job Killer” List Is One of the Few Watchdogs for Small Business
Most of the California business community is at the mercy of California’s progressive state legislature. It is easy to forget, especially with Silicon Valley pumping out inflated IPOs, that small businesses are the backbone of the economy. The U.S. Small Business Administration counts four million small business that call California ...
What Happened on the Last Night of the Legislative Session?
The end of the California Legislative session is typically a celebrated time in the halls of the state capitol. Legislators and staff are tired yet festive as they work toward wrapping up a long year of running their bills. A long week of all-day floor sessions is cemented by an ...
