Web Version [link removed] | Update Preferences [link removed] Business Climate and Job Creation Economists See Rising Risks Of Recession World-Wide

he U.S. and world economies look increasingly likely to slip into recession as expanding swaths of commerce shut down and the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its worst day since 1987 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The global financial rout deepened on Thursday despite new measures by major central banks to ease market strains and bolster the economy—and as the Trump administration and Congress neared agreement on legislation to provide federal financial assistance to many affected businesses and workers.

The Dow Industrials fell nearly 10%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq joined it in bear-market territory. For the day, the Dow industrials shed 2,352.6 points to 21,200.62. The S&P 500 sank 260.74 points, or 9.5%, to 2,480.64. And the Nasdaq Composite slid 750.25 points, or 9.4% to 7,201.80.

Read More [[link removed]] Federal Reserve Accelerates Treasury Purchases To Address Market Strains

The Federal Reserve accelerated previously announced purchases of Treasury securities Friday in a bid to prevent strains in financial markets from worsening despite offers to provide vast sums of short-term loans one day earlier.

On Thursday, the central bank said it would revamp purchases of $80 billion in Treasury securities over the coming month to address rising strains in the Treasury market. Considered the world’s deepest and most-liquid bond market, it has come under pressure as banks and investors react to the implications of a sharp slowdown in economic activity from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Fed announced Friday morning it would make roughly half of those planned purchases, or $37 billion, through the day.

Read More [[link removed]] Mnuchin Says U.S. Businesses Will Have Access To Liquidity

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said U.S. officials are committed to ensuring that financial firms and businesses facing disruptions related to the coronavirus have access to liquidity.

He also encouraged banks to borrow from the Federal Reserve’s discount window as necessary.

“There’s no stigma about going to the discount window,” Mr. Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC on Friday. “They should feel free to draw from the discount window. That’s another great source of liquidity for them to lend to companies.”

Mr. Mnuchin said he and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell “are in constant contact” and have many programs they can use to ensure firms have access to liquidity, although he said some of the government’s authority to act was curtailed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. “We’ll be rolling out other programs,” he said. “There will be a massive amount of liquidity.”

Read More [[link removed]] U.S. Consumers Increasingly Rattled By Coronavirus Fears

The new coronavirus and the stock-market rout are darkening Americans’ economic outlook, according to a University of Michigan survey of consumer attitudes released Friday.

Consumer views on the economy slipped to 95.9 in early March, from 101.0 for the four weeks ending Feb. 25. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a reading of 95.0.

The survey’s findings augur a bigger hit to consumer confidence as the virus spreads, said Richard Curtin, the survey’s chief economist.

“The component of the sentiment index that posted the greatest loss involved judgments about prospects for the economy during the year ahead,” he said, adding that this subindex’s 29-point plunge accounted for 83% of the slide in the overall index.

Read More [[link removed]] Congress Nears Stimulus Deal With White House As Wall Street Suffers Rout

Financial markets plunged on Thursday in the biggest one-day drop since the Black Monday stock market crash of 1987, and Congress neared a deal with the White House on a sweeping economic rescue package to respond to the colossal effect of the coronavirus pandemic.

After a day of intense negotiations between Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, Ms. Pelosi told reporters that “we’ve resolved most of our differences” and the House would vote on Friday on the measure “one way or another.” It would then go to the Senate, which called off a recess that had been scheduled for next week in anticipation of a compromise.

The legislation, according to a letter Ms. Pelosi sent to her members, will include enhanced unemployment benefits, free virus testing, aid for food assistance programs and federal funds for Medicaid. The package also ensures 14 days of paid sick leave, as well as tax credits to help small- and medium-size businesses fulfill that mandate. Language was still being drafted for provisions related to family and medical leave, according to a Democratic aide, as staff members worked through the night to prepare the bill.

Read More [[link removed]] UCLA Anderson Forecast Downgrades Outlook For Nation And California As Coronavirus Takes Toll

Pulling no punches, the UCLA Anderson Forecasts for the national, state and global economies take a hard look at the potential impacts of COVID-19.

"What makes COVID-19 different from the prior epidemics SARS (2002–03), MERS (2012), Ebola (1976– ) and especially H1N1 (the 'swine flu' of 2009–10, which killed 12,500 Americans alone) is that although maybe fatal, it is potentially far more contagious," writes senior economist David Shulman. "It is the contagious nature of COVID-19 that triggered the economic shutdowns that have become so disruptive to the global economy. Remember, China is far more integrated into the global economy than it was during the SARS epidemic."

The national forecast

In his essay titled "Coronavirus: Supply Shock and Demand Shock," Shulman notes that the realization that COVID-19 might potentially wreak havoc on the global economy shocked the securities market in February. Whereas the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, known as the USMCA, and the truce in the U.S.–China trade war had pointed the U.S. and the world toward moderate growth in 2020 and beyond, this public health emergency evolved into an economic emergency as the economies of China, Japan, South Korea and northern Italy began to shut down.

Read More [[link removed]] Realtors: Coronavirus Expected To Dampen California Home Sales, Prices And All-Cash Offers

California home prices and sales are likely to fall as a result of the coronavirus, but they could still eke out gains this year if lower mortgage rates offset tumbling stock prices and economic uncertainty, according to the California Association of Realtors.

The forecast comes as the real estate market enters its crucial spring selling season. The association said Wednesday that it will revise its 2020 forecast downward, “but not dramatically.” It said the situation remains fluid, but “if current economic forecasts of modest declines in GDP growth are realized, the effects of lower rates should help to offset the effects of a slower economy and increased economic uncertainty such that California would still achieve a modest improvement in both home sales and prices this year.”

The association had been expecting a 0.8% increase in single-family home sales and a 2.5% increase in the median price this year over last.

Read More [[link removed]] Coronavirus Could Take Big Bite Out Of California Budget

From cruise ships to quarantines to school closures, California leaders have had plenty to worry about with the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

Add one more thing to the list: The state's $222 billion annual budget.

California is home to some of the largest and most successful companies in the world and the executives who run them. That makes the state particularly vulnerable to short-term swings in the stock market, which is why state officials watched with concern Monday as U.S. stock indexes had their worst day since the start of the Great Recession in 2008.

“We've been waiting for a recession. This may be what triggers it,” said Assemblyman Phil Ting, chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee.

Nearly half of California's personal income tax collections come from the top 1% of earners whose income mostly stems from capital gains, which in California are taxed the same as income.

Read More [[link removed]] Paid Sick Days? Payroll Tax Cuts? Pros And Cons Of Economic Ideas To Calm Coronavirus Fears

President Trump, in a nationwide address Wednesday night, proposed a broad menu of economic aid for individuals and companies battered by the coronavirus pandemic.

In the Democratically controlled House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) hopes to vote on a separate economic stimulus proposal Thursday.

The proposals run the gamut, including quick tax cuts and tax holidays, government-financed paid sick leave, aid for small businesses, and targeted bailouts for industries especially hard-hit, such as the airlines and cruise ship operators.

Read More [[link removed]] Truckers, Dockworkers Suffer As Coronavirus Chokes L.A., Long Beach Ports Cargo

On a bright morning early this week, Eugene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, gazed through the big picture window of his office at the sprawling docks below.

Where he would normally see as many as a dozen ships in the harbor with giant cranes hoisting one container of goods after another, just four had docked.

“It’s very quiet,” he said.

The nation’s largest port is hurting. That may be a leading indicator of the pain that’s in store for Southern California and the U.S. economy as businesses hunker down to deal with the rapidly expanding new coronavirus.

Many American companies had bulked up inventories last year in advance of the Trump administration’s steep tariffs on Chinese imports, and have plenty of goods on hand. But they could soon face serious consequences of the virus: a dearth of crucial parts for American factories, shortages of consumer products on store shelves and less demand for U.S. exports.

Read More [[link removed]] Energy and Climate Change Court Rules In Favor Of California And Denies Trump Administration Claim That California's Coordination With Quebec In Cutting Climate Pollution Is Unconstitutional

Today, a federal district court issued an order granting California’s motion for summary judgment and rejecting the U.S. motion on two constitutional claims that California’s coordination with Quebec to reduce climate pollution is unlawful. The order by Judge William B. Shubb in the Eastern District of California was issued after a multi-hour hearing in Sacramento on Monday, March 9th. Two Constitutional claims remain outstanding and will be briefed and argued at a future date.

Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council are both parties to the case – defending California’s life-saving climate protections.

The hearing on March 9th considered two legal claims brought by the U.S. Department of Justice arguing that California’s work with Quebec is either a treaty that must be adopted by Congress or a “compact” that must be approved by Congress. EDF and the NRDC joined the California Attorney General’s office to vigorously oppose these claims in our opposition brief filed in February and in presenting oral argument at Monday’s hearing. Today’s important judicial ruling is available here.

Read More [[link removed]] Bi-Partisan Group Of Heavy-Hitters Meet To Work On Climate Change

Former GOP governors, John Kasich from Ohio and Arnold Schwarzenegger from California—who together with former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State John Kerry co-founded World War Zero, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization intended to bring people of diverse backgrounds together to fight climate change—convened a town hall meeting at Otterbein University in Ohio on Sunday.

GOP and dem heavy-hitters meet to work on climate change

By Chelsea Henderson

EcoRight News/ RepublicEN

“Do we have to have a revolution? No, but I don’t think we can just sit around and wait,” Kasich said. “I don’t think we’re making the kind of progress we ought to make.”

“It is not a party issue because there’s no Democratic air or Republican air…We all breathe the same air,” Schwarzenegger added. “It’s no different than promoting fitness. The more you talk about it, the more is going to happen. And the more you’re going to go and get everyone on board, but what we want to do is to really teach ordinary folks, what can they do to participate in this whole thing,” Schwarzenegger told The Dispatch. “This is what this town hall meeting is really about.”

Read More [[link removed]] Washington State Passes Bill To Become A ZEV State, Pushes For Ban Of Gas Cars

Washington State’s Senate narrowly passed SB 5811 this week, paving the way for the Evergreen State to become the 12th to adopt California’s zero-emissions mandate. SB 5811 passed the House in January, and Gov. Jay Inslee is expected to sign the bill.

When that happens, the entire US west coast will require that at least 5% of auto sales are EVs, increasing to 8% by 2025.

The most immediate effect could be an increased choice of all-electric models in Washington. Some automakers elect to sell their EVs only in ZEV states. After the bill is signed into law, more of those compliance-oriented electric vehicles are expected to be offered in Washington.

Washington had adopted California emissions standards in 2005 but without the Zero-Emissions (ZEV) Mandate. The Senate’s approval of the ZEV mandate comes after years of opposition from trade associations representing major automakers.

Read More [[link removed]] California Issues A Power Mandate For Our Times

California regulators are requiring power companies to ensure their outreach around wildfires is offered in the languages spoken in their service areas.

Why it matters: The new California Public Utilities Commission rule is the convergence of two big dynamics: wildfire threats that are worsened in part from climate change, and the growing diversity of the nation's most populous state.

Driving the news: The rule requires companies to "conduct outreach to communities and the public before, during and after a wildfire in all languages 'prevalent' in their respective service territories."

Read More [[link removed]] Climate Change Is The Real Threat To Latinx

The exploitation by opponents of seawater desalination of environmental justice concerns is both unfortunate and misguided (Maestas: Poseidon Desalination Would Worsen Environmental Injustice in Orange County).

The real threat to economically disadvantaged and communities of color is climate change and its effect on the environment and our water resources. As the oldest Hispanic civil rights organization in the United States, the United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) takes this threat very seriously and so does the state of California, which is why to date every state agency charged with permitting the Huntington Beach Desalination Project has done so.

The Latinx community, like all Californians, have the right to clean, reliable and affordable drinking water. It is in fact a Human Right. Orange County’s Latinx population continues to grow. We now make up more than one-third of all Orange County residents. As we grow and take more leadership roles in business, in government and in our communities, we have a responsibility to ensure that we are planning well for our future and the future of the next generation.

Read More [[link removed]] Workforce Development How Learning Will Change Across California's K-12 Schools Amid Coronavirus Closures

California schools facing inevitable closures because of coronavirus outbreaks are finding various ways to keep learning going as students are forced to stay home.

Across the state, more than 1,200 public and private K-12 schools announced this week that they will close or move to remote learning due to concerns about coronavirus, including the state’s two largest school districts, Los Angeles Unified and San Diego Unified, which announced Friday morning in a joint statement that they will close schools beginning Monday. Since Thursday night, districts including Berkeley, San Francisco, Sacramento City and others also announced they would close schools.

But while many colleges and universities in California have switched to online classes to keep students and staff home, most K-12 schools are not equipped with the infrastructure to do so. Now schools are exploring everything from take-home projects to partnerships with local media.

Read More [[link removed]] College Faculty In California Scramble To Adapt As Classes Move To Online Instruction

Thousands of professors and instructors across California this week quickly found themselves in the role of student — having to quickly learn how to conduct in-person classes online as colleges and universities begin to close campuses to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Mia McIver’s writing and literature classes at the University of California, Los Angeles, depend on face-to-face conversations and discussions between herself and students.

In her undergraduate classes, she will sometimes ask students to collaborate in small groups to study terms and word definitions.

But McIver now must adapt quickly to teaching online.

Read More [[link removed]] Building A Better System To Serve California's Youngest Children--And Their Families

It’s time for California to take bold and cohesive action to create a true system for early childhood well-being that is evidence-based and puts families at the center.

As a pediatrician, I’ve seen firsthand that child well-being is inextricably linked to the well-being of the child’s caregivers. We must develop a “two-generation system” — one where we meet care needs of the child and their family.

This means thinking about the educational and support needs of parents and guardians so they can earn a living wage and have the time and resources to meet their families’ needs. With a whole child and whole family approach, we can reduce child poverty, improve equity and reduce health and educational disparities in early childhood.

Read More [[link removed]] Infrastructure and Housing Could Vacancy Fines Ease California's Housing Crisis? Vancouver Tries It, With Mixed Results

California has a housing shortage, so the idea of a big, faceless corporation keeping thousands of homes empty for months is pretty frustrating. But a new proposal in California is aimed at changing that by allowing cities and counties to impose vacancy fines.

The intent is to let local governments levy charges on corporate-owned homes left unoccupied for more than 90 days, as well as to use eminent domain — expropriation rights — to take possession of such homes to use as affordable housing. Existing law requires that properties be declared blighted before cities can confiscate them.

“In this type of crisis, when we have so many people either unhoused or in housing insecurity, there’s no justification for a residential unit to be vacant,” said state Sen. Nancy Skinner, the Berkeley Democrat behind the proposal. “(I’m) trying to make sure that every bit of residential property is being used for that purpose — to house people.”

Read More [[link removed]] To Protect Renters From Coronavirus Fallout, L.A. and S.F. Are Pressing For Eviction Bans

With cases of the novel coronavirus multiplying rapidly and the financial implications of the outbreak becoming increasingly clear for low-income workers, the city of Los Angeles will consider a temporary ban on evictions next week amid calls for a similar moratorium that would apply across California.

Council President Nury Martinez and Councilmen Mike Bonin and Herb Wesson plan to introduce a measure that would prevent renters from being evicted throughout the city, as well as provide relief for homeowners, small businesses and landlords.

The details have yet to be determined, though councilmembers said the moratorium could be limited to those directly affected by the virus, including those who have been infected or who have lost work because the outbreak forced a business to close. Or it could be a more general citywide ban.

“We’re trying to take care of people who are sitting in their house right now and wondering what the hell they’re going to do,” Wesson said.

Read More [[link removed]] California Considers Temporary Ban On Evictions As Coronavirus Hits Economy

A California state lawmaker said he would introduce legislation to temporarily ban evictions and home foreclosures for residents who can’t pay the bills because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, said the bill would keep Californians sheltered as long as they prove the coronavirus has affected their household financially.

“Before the coronavirus, homelessness was the thing people were talking about,” Ting said. “The last thing we want is the virus to exacerbate the problem.”

The legislation would be a similar to San Jose’s 30-day eviction moratorium, Ting said, but would include foreclosure restrictions so landlords and property owners are protected.

Read More [[link removed]] Sen. Scott Wiener Wants To Eliminate Single-Family Zoning In SF

Scott Wiener, the San Francisco-based California state senator hellbent on clearing away restrictive zoning across the state, failed to create great swaths of multi-unit housing near transit and job centers earlier this year when his SB 50 bill died on the senate floor. Now he’s thinking smaller with new legislation focused on two- to four-unit homes.

The latest Wiener working, SB 902, would radically change zoning standards across the entire state by eliminating local housing rules that limit parcels to just one home. In cities like San Francisco, it would also knock down standards that bar three- or four-unit homes in many neighborhoods.

But the increase in density would still be slight compared to previous, more aggressive efforts: small towns and suburbs (up to 10,000 people) could still limit parcels to two units, midsize cities (up to 50,000 people) to three units, and big cities (anything large than 50,000) up to four units.

Read More [[link removed]] Editorial and Opinion Fix Housing Before Increasing Taxes

Liberals love to tax and spend, so the theory goes. Petaluma, and Sonoma County in general, are solidly liberal areas.

So, with three tax measures on the March 3 ballot broadly representing education and climate change — key liberal issues — it would seem that “yes” campaigns would have been celebrating on election night.

But that wasn’t the case, and the reason may have more to do with housing than any of the issues actually on the ballot.

Voters in Sonoma County defeated Measure G, Marin and Sonoma County voters turned back Measure I, and statewide, Prop. 13 failed to gain support.

Measure G was a new half-cent sales tax that would have raised more than $50 million annually for county fire agencies. In an era where climate change has made intense wildfires the new normal, proponents pitched the measure as necessary to keeping residents safe.

Read More [[link removed]] Americans Can Afford A Few Extra Pennies On Their Nikes To Clean Up 'Diesel Death Zones'

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach may be among the greenest docks in the country, but they are still the single largest source of pollution in Southern California.

For the most part, fossil fuels power the host of ships, trains, heavy equipment and trucks that shuttle cargo between the ports, rail yards and warehouses. The concentration of all that pollution is toxic. Nearby communities, including Wilmington, San Pedro and West Long Beach, have the region’s highest cancer risk from air pollution, according to air quality regulators, and higher rates of asthma than the rest of the state. Communities along the highways used by the trucks have been dubbed “diesel death zones.”

In 2017, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia pledged to transform the port complex into a zero-emissions facility by 2035. It’s an ambitious and expensive effort — $14 billion by one estimate — but absolutely essential to protect public health and cut planet-warming emissions. Now the mayors are facing the first test of their commitment.

Read More [[link removed]] Public Power Is Not A Panacea For Northern California's Problems

Over the last several months, state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and others have made a case for public ownership of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., suggesting that legislation he has authored is the right path forward for Californians. As someone who has been on both sides of the equation — as chief executive officer of two large investor-owned utilities and CEO of the largest publicly owned utility in the nation — I feel I know a little something about the matter.

I don’t think a public takeover of PG&E is the best path forward for our customers, our communities, our state and our shared energy future, but I believe people should form their own opinion based on the facts. So, let’s start with some basic facts.

First, it’s a fact that both public- and private-ownership models for utilities can be successful, and both can also fall well short of expectations. There have been examples of both historically and in recent years. It’s also a fact that when the model doesn’t work well or problems occur, the results come at the detriment of someone — but who pays the costs of mishaps or problems can vary significantly based on the model.

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