Web Version [link removed] | Update Preferences [link removed] CBRT in the News California Farm Bureau Will Fight 'Split-Roll' Ballot Measure

The state’s largest agricultural organization will oppose a proposed “split-roll” ballot measure that would increase commercial property taxes, saying it will cost farmers and consumers billions by mandating costly reassessments for California barns, wineries and processing plants.

Jamie Johansson, president of the 34,000-member California Farm Bureau Federation, said in an interview that it was highly unusual for his organization to oppose a ballot measure at this early stage, “but our board of directors is very concerned about the impact this initiative would have on rural California.”

...

Rob Lapsley, who heads the California Business Roundtable, which is fighting the initiative, said the wording has raised alarms among agricultural groups and he predicted that most major agricultural organizations in the state will join the Farm Bureau in opposing what’s predicted to be the most contested and expensive ballot measure on the November ballot.

Lapsley said business groups are prepared to file suit against the Attorney General's office if they believe the final ballot language doesn’t accurately describe the impacts on commercial and industrial properties, including farms.

Read More [[link removed]] California Split Roll Ballot Measure Destroys Prop 13 Protections for California Farmers, Threatens Rural Communities

Agriculture was always considered sacred in the eyes of California’s property taxing agencies, and especially under Proposition 13. But that could change with the split roll property tax ballot initiative in November 2020.

Prop. 13 was a 1978 ballot initiative to cap property tax increases for residential and business properties and provide certainty, so property owners would not be taxed out of their homes and businesses. Passed by 65% of California voters in 1978, Prop. 13 put a Constitutional cap on annual property tax increases. Prior to passage of Prop. 13, many seniors and those living on fixed incomes were forced from their homes because of skyrocketing property tax increases. According to the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, author of Prop. 13, some properties were reassessed 50 – 100% in just one year.

...

Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable and co-chair of Californians to Stop Higher Property Taxes said, “Whether on a tree or vine, at a dairy or at a processing facility, every fresh fruit, vegetable and gallon of milk we buy at the grocery store will cost more under this property tax initiative. At a time when families are already struggling to make ends meet and provide healthy, farm-to-fork options for their families, we simply cannot afford the largest property tax increase in California history.”

Read More [[link removed]] Calif. Farm Bureau Rolls Out Opposition To Split Roll Ballot Initiative

A proposal to roll back Proposition 13 for commercial properties saw a new opponent emerge on Thursday: farmers.

The prospective initiative, which creates a so-called “split roll” on property taxes, is not set to hit the ballot until November.

If approved, the initiative would account for a $12.5 billion tax hike on commercial properties held across the spectrum – from major distribution centers to small businesses.

...

For family farms that have not changed ownership in multiple generations, a market value reassessment could prove excessively costly.

“At a time when families are already struggling to make ends meet and provide healthy, farm-to-fork options for their families, we simply cannot afford the largest property tax increase in California history,” said California Business Roundtable president Rob Lapsley.

Read More [[link removed]] School Leaders: Prop 13 Won't Lead To Higher Property Taxes For Calaveras Residents

The only statewide proposition on the March primary ballot has stirred up some confusion in recent weeks.

Although property taxes in communities outside of Calaveras County could increase to fund rehabilitation and construction of school facilities as a result of Proposition 13, county residents shouldn’t be concerned, local superintendents say.

To quell concerns, the proposition is not a repeal of the People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation (also called Prop 13), a landmark measure that passed in 1978 to limit property tax increases.

...

According to Ballotpedia, a nonpartisan elections website, Proposition 13 has received support from Gov. Gavin Newsom, dozens of state legislators, the California Teachers Association, the California Federation of Teachers, the California Charter Schools Association, the California Building Industry Association, the California Business Roundtable and California Chamber of Commerce, among others.

Calaveras Unified School District (CUSD) Superintendent Mark Campbell said the potential funds from Prop 13 would be a key component in helping the district address its “significant facility needs.”

Read More [[link removed]] Business Climate and Job Creation Fed Minutes Show Comfort With Economy, Rate Stance Last Month

Federal Reserve officials signaled growing optimism about the U.S. economy last month, before the coronavirus outbreak in China began to cloud prospects of firmer global growth in 2020.

Officials at the Fed’s Jan. 28-29 policy meeting mostly “saw the distribution of risks to the outlook for economic activity as more favorable than at the previous meeting, although a number of downside risks remained prominent,” according to minutes released Wednesday.

No sooner had the U.S. and China signed a deal that eased trade tensions last month than the coronavirus outbreak in China rekindled doubts about the global economy’s prospects in 2020.

The minutes referred eight times to the coronavirus outbreak. Officials agreed the potential for disruptions from the virus “warranted close watching,” the minutes said.

Read More [[link removed]] Calif. Farm Bureau Warns Against Property Tax Changes

A California farmers group opposing a proposed statewide ballot measure that could change how large commercial and industrial properties are taxed argued Wednesday that the measure would trigger reassessments on agricultural improvements — a position proponents vehemently rebut.

The California Farm Bureau Federation said it opposed the proposed measure, which is formally called the California Schools and Local Communities Funding Act, because it would result in the reassessment of facilities like dairy barns, wineries and food processing facilities at full-market value if it were to pass.

Jamie Johansson, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation, said in a statement that it was unusual for the group to oppose a measure at such an early stage, but the federation’s board of directors expressed concern about its impact on rural California when combined with threats to water supply and the state’s employment and environmental regulations.

Read More [[link removed]] Farm Bureau Opposes 'Split-Roll' Initiative

Warning that an initiative on property taxes threatens harm to rural communities, the California Farm Bureau Federation has voted to oppose it. Known as Initiative 19-0008, the measure would establish a split-roll property tax that would reassess commercial and industrial property, including agricultural facilities. Backers are collecting signatures to qualify the initiative for the November ballot.

“It’s unusual for Farm Bureau to oppose a measure at this early stage, but our board of directors is very concerned about the impact this initiative would have on rural California,” CFBF President Jamie Johansson said. “Although its backers claim agricultural land would not be affected, the initiative would trigger annual tax reassessments at market value for agricultural improvements such as barns, dairies, wineries, processing plants, vineyards and orchards.”

Johansson said Farm Bureau opposes efforts to weaken Proposition 13, the 1978 tax-reform measure that limits property tax increases.

Read More [[link removed]] Poll Finds Narrow Lead For $15 Billion California School Bond Measure

Slightly more than half of likely California voters support a $15 billion state school bond measure on the March 3 ballot, according to a poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California.

The poll, released Thursday, found that 51% of likely voters approve the measure, 42% oppose and 8% are undecided. In January, the results were somewhat higher with 53% in favor, 36% opposed and 10% undecided. Statewide ballot measures only require a simple majority to pass.

Proposition 13, the only statewide measure on the statewide primary ballot, would authorize general obligation bonds to build, repair and modernize K-12 schools, community colleges and universities. It’s the largest education construction bond in the state’s history.

“The proposition 13 state school bond has a slim majority going into the March primary vote and gets a big boost from its strong support among Democratic likely voters,” said Mark Baldassare, PPIC president and chief executive officer.

Read More [[link removed]] California's Startup Economy: An Abundance of Attractions And Drawbacks

California is a land of contradictions. It is at once notorious for business-unfriendliness and the most entrepreneurial state in the nation; a place talented people swarm for the good life and flee because a good life is unaffordable.

Exhibit A: Silicon Valley workers are making less today, adjusted for inflation, than they were 20 years ago, says a 2018 study by UC Santa Cruz. The median price for a house statewide exceeds $600,000--more than twice the national level. And 44 percent of Bay Area residents say they will likely leave in the next few years, according to a 2019 poll conducted by the San Jose Mercury News and Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

Higher costs complicate recruitment and retention--and they can affect a company's ability to build the kinds of skilled professional ranks that powered an earlier generation of companies, like Intel and National Semiconductor. "Of course you are going to get Web marketing companies where 80 percent of the employees are 25 years old," says Joel Kotkin, the Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange, California. "Because who is going to live in California when they are 35 and want to buy a home and have a family?"

Read More [[link removed]] California Governor Declares Homeless Crisis ‘A Disgrace’

With tens of thousands of people living on the streets of California, the homelessness crisis has become the state’s defining issue. For Gov. Gavin Newsom, the emergency had become so dire that he devoted his entire State of the State address on Wednesday to the 150,000 Californians without homes.

“Let’s call it what it is: It’s a disgrace that the richest state in the richest nation, succeeding across so many sectors, is falling so far behind to properly house, heal and humanely treat so many of its own people,” Mr. Newsom told lawmakers in Sacramento. “Every day, the California dream is dimmed by the wrenching reality of families and children and seniors living unfed on a concrete bed.”

Vulnerable to the charge that the problem has exploded under Democratic rule in California, Mr. Newsom, a former mayor of San Francisco, pleaded with — and at times admonished — legislators to take action.

Read More [[link removed]] SF's Proposition D Vacancy Tax, Explained

Like clockwork, it’s almost Election Day in San Francisco; in fact, early voting has already started for the upcoming California primary election on March 3, 2020.

In additional to the hotly contested Democratic presidential primary, the March vote places a handful of crucial housing and infrastructure propositions on the ballot. We have everything you need to know about every vote you’re being asked to cast, starting with Proposition D.

In an effort to incentivize finding new tenants for blighted commercial properties, Proposition D, the city’s proposed vacancy tax, would charge owners of chronically empty SF storefronts $250 per linear foot for the first year of remaining vacant, $500 in year two, and $1,000 every year after the unit remains empty.

Fees collected would go into the city’s new small business fund, and wouldn’t kick in until 2021. This measure requires two-thirds of the vote in order to pass.

Read More [[link removed]] Nevada Is Booming. But Not Everyone Is Feeling the Gains.

The signs of Nevada’s resurgent economy are everywhere in this community outside Las Vegas, the fastest-growing city in one of the country’s fastest-growing states.

New housing developments are spilling up the mountainsides, filled with families and retirees fleeing California and the East Coast for sunshine, cheaper land and lower taxes. Warehouses are sprouting beside a huge new practice facility for the Las Vegas Raiders football team — another set of California transplants. Even the names on new apartments and Spanish-tiled subdivisions mirror the optimism of a state on a hot streak after years of a plodding economic recovery: Elysian. Inspirada.

“It’s a boomtown,” said Ivonne Hernandez, 28, who was in high school when her family lost their home in the housing crash.

But Ms. Hernandez and other middle-class voters say they are not sharing in Nevada’s jackpot. As the state handed out millions in tax incentives to lure businesses here, working-class voters say they are struggling to keep up with rising rents and still feel economically vulnerable more than a decade after the recession plunged Las Vegas’s tourism and construction-dependent economy into disarray.

Read More [[link removed]] Energy and Climate Change Oil And Gas Industry Is 25 To 40% More Responsible For Global Methane Emissions Than Previously Thought

The oil and gas industry may be contributing even more to the climate crisis than we thought.

A study published in Nature Wednesday found that methane emissions from fossil fuel extraction have been underestimated by 25 to 40 percent.

"This indicates that the fossil fuel sector has a much more polluting impact beyond being responsible for the overwhelming majority of carbon dioxide emissions," Dr. Joeri Rogelj, a climate change lecturer at the Grantham Institute who was not involved with the research, told The Guardian. "This is worrying and overall bad news."

While carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas contributing the most to the climate crisis, methane is now responsible for 25 percent of current global warming, according to CNN.

Read More [[link removed]] California Governor Newsom And Oil Industry Face Off

Kern County is the largest oil-producing county in the U.S. It happens to be located in California, a state that announced new regulations for oil drilling at the end of 2019. On one side there is the oil industry that wants to maintain the status quo, and on the other side, there are environmentalists who want to protect the state’s air and water.

The place was packed at the Kern County Board of Supervisors’ meeting on January 14, 2020. The reason is simple: Representatives from Governor Gavin Newsom’s office and oil industry leaders attended to hear oil industry executives speak about how regulations are harming the local economy. While many in attendance agreed with the oil industry, about 100 people at the meeting supported the state regulations.

Kern County is not only one of the leading oil-producing areas. It is one of the top agricultural counties in the country and the leading producer of carrots, with more than 80 percent of all carrots grown there. The county also grows many other crops, including potatoes, lettuce, garlic, onion, tomatoes, bell peppers, cotton, and grapes. Every year, more than 100,000 acres of vegetables alone are grown in the county.

Read More [[link removed]] SMUD Opts Out Of California’s New Rooftop Solar Law, Advocates Say It Sets A Dangerous Precedent

The California Energy Commission unanimously voted to allow the Sacramento Municipal Utility District to opt-out of the state's new requirement for solar on new homes. But opponents say giving SMUD permission sets a precedent that other utilities will follow threatening the future of rooftop solar in California.

SMUD’s plan will allow customers to either have rooftop solar or to purchase power from a community solar project. The power will come from several solar farms in the utility’s territory.

“This program provides options to builders and a net benefit to potential homebuyers, all while providing clean power to our community,” said SMUD CEO and General Manager Arlen Orchard in a statement. “The state of California and the Sacramento region are facing an affordable housing crisis and our low-cost solar option provides a valuable tool to lower the construction costs of new homes while supporting carbon reduction goals.”

SMUD touts the Neighborhood SolarShares Program as a legal alternative with benefits for homeowners. When they sign up they are locked into the program for 20 years. Officials with SMUD also note customers can purchase rooftop solar even after enrolling in the community solar program. The company is about 50 percent carbon-free and says it plans to become 80 percent by 2030.

Read More [[link removed]] Oregon's Cap And Trade Climate Bill: A Tax Or Not? It Depends

The Legislature’s lawyers issued a indecisive opinion this week on whether Democrats’ controversial cap and trade climate bill should be considered a tax and if so, what additional constitutional restrictions apply to how it should be voted upon and its revenues spent.

The opinion by staff attorney Seth Nickerson was in response to questions sent to the Legislative Counsel’s office by Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany.

Boshart Davis forwarded the opinion to all lawmakers Thursday morning, noting that “it states clearly that SB 1530 is a tax (yet somehow not a tax)….As you continue to consider your vote on this legislation, I would encourage you to read over this opinion and be aware of the significant constitutional hurdles this bill faces in its current form.”

Republicans have raised a variety of constitutional objections to both the legislative process being used to pass the controversial climate change legislation, as well as how the money it raises would be used. And it’s clear that if any version of the bill ends up passing, it likely will end up being challenged in court.

Read More [[link removed]] California Approves Natural Gas Limits On New Buildings In Nine Bay Area Cities

Amid debates and lawsuits, natural gas bans keep gaining momentum as Bay Area cities encourage people to rely more on electricity for home appliances and less on fossil fuels.

On Thursday, the California Energy Commission unanimously approved new municipal building codes — which include strict policies for natural gas use in new homes — in Berkeley, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, Windsor, Palo Alto, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Mountain View and Brisbane.

The policies take effect immediately.

“We fully support and welcome and encourage local government leadership to decarbonize the building sector. It’s been absolutely essential,” Energy Commission Chairman David Hochschild said at Thursday’s meeting. He said the commission approved the laws because they save more energy than state requirements, and have proved cost-effective. Constructing homes with only electric appliances can save money up front, according to a representative of the California Building Industry Association who spoke Thursday, but utility bills can be higher.

Read More [[link removed]] Arizona Set To Preempt Natural Gas Bans

In July 2019, Berkeley, CA became the first city to pass a natural gas ban for new low-rise residential buildings as a climate change initiative. It also requires that all new buildings be "electric-ready," with the panels and wiring conduits to support electric infrastructure.

Since then, other municipalities have followed suit, with Brookline, MA becoming the first municipality on the East Coast. Seattle is also considering its own ban in a bid to reduce emissions from buildings and encourage developers to use cleaner, electric appliances and heating.

The California Energy Commission voted to approve nine local ordinances this week that would ban natural gas infrastructure.

Read More [[link removed]] California's Phil Ting Tilts At Windmills--Ban Gas-Powered Cars!--Hoping To Start A Conversation

Dale Carnegie could have been talking about Phil Ting when the positive-thinking guru said, decades ago, “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”

Ting is that person. Sometimes he’s the California Assembly’s Don Quixote, chasing seemingly impossible dreams. He has tried to persuade skeptical colleagues to punish companies that do business with the Trump administration and to tell Californians to park their gas-fueled cars forever — even as he performs the more practical task of managing the Assembly’s purse strings as chairman of the powerful budget committee.

For some practitioners, political accomplishment is a zero-sum proposition, with success measured by wins ­— legislation signed into law — and losses — bills that may die a lonely death in committee.

But Ting doesn’t see his work that way. He’s playing the long game. It’s a win, says Ting — a key figure in California’s fight to slash auto emissions in the battle against climate change and — if his legislation does nothing more than start a conversation.

Read More [[link removed]] Regulators Loosen California's Groundbreaking Rule To Require Residential Rooftop Solar

In a closely-watched vote on the future of California’s groundbreaking rooftop solar program, state regulators today approved a proposal to power some new Sacramento housing developments using offsite solar panels instead.

The California Energy Commission’s decision ended a months-long standoff between rooftop solar advocates and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, commonly called SMUD. SMUD had asked regulators to allow developers to use its offsite solar installations rather than the rooftop solar panels required in California starting Jan. 1.

California’s solar regulation already allowed new developments to be powered by an alternative option called community solar, particularly some apartment buildings or shaded homes. The energy commission chose to leave the term community solar essentially undefined, but today’s decision loosens the regulation, allowing developers to decide themselves whether to use rooftop or SMUD’s community solar.

“I think this is something that’s bold, it’s cutting-edge, it’s something that we haven’t seen folks do before,” commission Vice-Chair Janea Scott said at the hearing.

Read More [[link removed]] Tesla Can Clear Trees for New EV Factory, German Court Rules

Tesla can continue clearing a forest outside Berlin in order to build a new Gigafactory factory, a German court ruled Thursday.

The company is planning its first European electric car and battery factory in the town of Gruenheide, but local environmental groups opposed the tree clearing necessary to construct it, Reuters explained. The court had issued a temporary injunction against the tree felling Sunday, The Guardian reported, but its decision now to allow the trees to be cleared is final and cannot be appealed, MarketWatch pointed out.

The factory has divided environmentalists in Germany, DW explained. On the one hand, Tesla plans to clear 92 hectares of forest for its factory. Local environmental groups are worried about how it will impact wildlife and water supply, and their vocal opposition has surprised authorities, according to Reuters. Demonstrations against the plant have drawn hundreds.

Read More [[link removed]] Workforce Development Companies Invest In Partnerships, Workforce Training To Bridge Skills Gap

In the midst of a tight labor market and historically lackluster financial support from federal and state governments, major corporations are increasingly focusing on closing a perceived U.S. skills gap – investing in training and upskilling programs to improve the skills of current and prospective employees rather than initiating layoffs and recruiting new workers.

Employers from a variety of industries – including Amazon, Facebook, Chevron, Home Depot and Siemens – have in recent years announced plans to collectively pump hundreds of millions of dollars into domestic skills training courses; partnerships with high schools, community colleges and universities; or other types of public-private partnerships.

Amazon pledged last year to improve the skills of 100,000 U.S. employees at an estimated cost of more than $700 million. In January, Nationwide announced plans to spend $160 million over five years to improve employees' digital literacy.

Read More [[link removed]] California Community College Students Would Receive More Financial Aid Under A New State Proposal

California college students would receive significantly more state aid to pay for non-tuition expenses like housing, books and food under proposed sweeping changes to the state’s financial aid system.

Community college students stand to benefit the most from the changes outlined in the proposal presented at a hearing in Sacramento on Thursday by the California Student Aid Commission. More than 300,000 additional community college students would become eligible for Cal Grants, state monetary awards that students don’t have to pay back, to cover non-tuition costs. The maximum grants available would more than triple from $1,672 to $6,000.

Under the proposal, students who attend University of California or California State University would be excluded from receiving the additional state financial aid, although those students would continue to be eligible to receive Cal Grants to cover tuition and fees.

Read More [[link removed]] Lawsuit Settlement Results In $50 Million For Reading Programs In California Schools

Seventy-five California elementary schools where students have the lowest average reading scores will share $50 million in state grants to improve reading and writing instruction, according to a legal settlement announced Thursday.

The settlement in Los Angeles Superior Court ends a much-watched lawsuit filed on behalf of students who struggled with reading at three elementary schools — La Salle Avenue Elementary School in the Los Angeles Unified School District, Van Buren Elementary School in the Stockton Unified School District, and Children of Promise Preparatory Academy, a charter school in the Inglewood Unified School District. The lawsuit, Ella T. vs. the State of California, alleged that the state violated the students’ civil rights by denying them a quality education.

“Achieving literacy for all children is one of the single most urgent issues in California,” said Mark Rosenbaum, a director at Public Counsel, a public interest law firm that filed the lawsuit with the law firm Morrison & Foerster. “This settlement is a milestone in that struggle.”

Read More [[link removed]] Infrastructure and Housing Housing Crisis Fix? Proposed State Law Inspired By Homeless Oakland Moms Aims To Fill Vacant Homes

State legislation introduced Wednesday aims to reduce the number of empty homes in California and give tenants the right of first refusal to buy foreclosed properties. The bill was inspired by the plight of a group of homeless mothers who recently took up residence in a vacant West Oakland home to call attention to California’s housing crisis.

State Senator Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, introduced SB1079, which would allow cities and counties to fine corporations that let their properties sit vacant for more than 90 days. The legislation also allows local governments to seize the properties and use them for affordable housing.

If it’s approved, the bill might spark a legal challenge, and it’s unclear how big of an impact it would have in the Bay Area, where few vacant properties exist.

Read More [[link removed]] Bay Area Mayor Proposes Giving Renters 1st Dibs On Houses For Sale

The mayor of Berkeley, California, proposed a new housing policy Thursday aimed at giving renters first dibs when a property goes up for sale, as the state battles a severe housing shortage and homelessness that Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared his top priority.

Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin announced a proposed ordinance to give renters "the first refusal and right to purchase" when their apartment buildings or rented homes are put on the market. Berkeley's city council will vote on the idea later this month.

“We have a housing crisis and the public expects us to take bold action to fix it," Arreguin said in a statement. “There are growing inequities in the rental market born of speculation and greed, and we must level the playing field."

City officials say the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act would give tenants more leverage and help them stay housed in one of the country's most expensive real estate markets, which has pushed rents sky high and contributed to a growing homeless crisis.

The median home price in Berkeley was $1.3 million last year, nearly doubled from $704,000 in 2013, Arreguin said. The median rental listing price for a one-bedroom in Berkeley is about $3,400, according to Zillow.

Read More [[link removed]] How To Make A Housing Crisis

For most of American history, cities grew along a familiar pattern. Once a suburban community grew large enough, the neighboring big city would loosen its borders and swallow it up through annexation. Then in the 1950s, the developers of Lakewood, California—sometimes described as the “Levittown of the West Coast”—invented a new “municipal technology” to avoid this fate.

By contracting out vital municipal services like police, fire and sanitation to the county or private entities, the 17,500-home subdivision just outside of Long Beach was able to incorporate as a city at a significantly lower population than it otherwise would have needed. Copycat contract cities became hugely popular in the ensuing decades, forming concentric circles around old urban centers and providing suburban homeowners with the solace that, safely within their incorporated entities, they would be protected from what might euphemistically be called big-city ills.

Contract cities aren’t the first thing that come to mind for most people when they think of the affordable housing crisis that many American cities now face—these suburban communities tend not to have many homeless people or renters at risk of eviction. But in desirable regions like coastal California, contract cities have played a huge role in exacerbating housing problems outside their borders. For over half a century, they’ve been all too successful at implementing their founding mandates: preserving their physical and demographic character, and delivering consistently rising home values to homeowners.

Read More [[link removed]] Garcetti Appointees Rejected A Plan For Apartments. The Developer Says They Broke The Law

A West Hollywood-based real estate company has sued the city of Los Angeles, saying appointees of Mayor Eric Garcetti violated state law by rejecting plans for a 577-unit apartment complex in South Los Angeles.

Lawyers for District Square LLC said in their lawsuit that the South Los Angeles Area Planning Commission, a five-member panel made up of mayoral appointees, violated the Housing Accountability Act by denying their client’s application to build a six-story residential project.

The Housing Accountability Act prohibits cities from rejecting housing developments that comply with local planning laws unless they conclude there is a danger to public health or safety. In their filing, attorneys for the developer said the project, also known as District Square, adhered to city rules and would have helped L.A. achieve its long-term housing goals.

Read More [[link removed]] Trump Administration To Divert More Of California’s Water To Farming, Impacting Power Production And Wildlife

California’s water shortage is ensnaring everything from farming and fisheries to energy and international trade. And the issue is coming to a boil as the president signed an executive order this week to divert water to farm country while the state responded by suing to stop it.

The competition for a finite resource is intense. To divide the issue between providing food or protecting wildlife is to oversimplify it. Farmers get about 40% of those allocations while concerted efforts are now made to maintain river levels — all to preserve wildlife and to provide electric power. California’s water and energy needs are linked: as the need for one goes up, the demands on the other also rise.

What Donald Trump wants to do is to free more river water in northern California and to send it to farmers in central California. That would endanger the Delta smelt and the Chinook salmon, which are essential parts of the eco-system in which one species feeds upon another.

Read More [[link removed]] Editorial and Opinion America’s Disappearing Workers

Democrats and many Republicans complain that U.S. corporations are raking in huge profits as blue-collar jobs disappear. The reality is the opposite, a new Conference Board business survey reports. Corporate profits have been declining as employers increase wages to hire scarce blue-collar workers, but hold the champagne.

Eighty-five percent of blue-collar businesses report recruiting difficulties versus 64% of white-collar employers. One reason is the working-age population without a college degree is shrinking as baby boomers retire and more young people enroll in college. Labor participation among 16- to 24-year-olds has fallen 10 percentage points in two decades.

Many working-age men who dropped out of the workforce during the recession and early years of the recovery are relying on parents and government. Nearly 12% of 25- to 64-year-olds in Kentucky are not in the workforce because they claim a disability. Almost a quarter of 25- to 34-year-old men without a four-year degree live with their parents—twice as many as those with a bachelor’s.

Read More [[link removed]] More Than 90% Of U.S. Plastic Waste Is Never Recycled. Here's How We Can Change That

More than a third of Americans recycle every day. They want to believe that the plastic bottles, containers and packaging they use will be turned into new products — instead of being sent to landfills and incinerators or polluting our planet.

But that belief is an illusion. Eight of the 10 most commonly polluted plastic items, which includes utensils and food wrappers, are not recyclable in America’s municipal recycling system. Over 90% of U.S. plastic waste is never recycled. And so every year, about 32 million tons of plastic are landfilled or incinerated. That doesn’t count the amount that directly litters our environment or that we ship to developing countries to handle.

The reality is that we cannot recycle our way out of this crisis using the system we have in place. The heart of the problem lies in the simple fact that big corporations are producing plastic such as packaging, bags and foam that end up being unrecyclable. Once these plastic products are used, no businesses want to buy the scraps to recycle them. They end up as eternal plastic waste instead.

Read More [[link removed]] California Business Roundtable 1301 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 916.553.4093 | [[link removed]] Web Version [link removed] | Update Preferences [link removed] | Unsubscribe [link removed]