Web Version [link removed] | Update Preferences [link removed] CBRT in the News Business Groups Angered By Newsom Order Easing Barriers To Workers Comp For COVID-19 Patients

California business groups are fuming about an executive order Gov. Gavin Newsom handed down Wednesday that makes it easier for people to file for workers compensation if they contract COVID-19.

The order directs insurers carriers to approve workers compensation claims for COVID-19 with a presumption that the employee caught the coronavirus at work.

...

California Business Roundtable President Rob Lapsley said in a statement that medical professionals like doctors and nurses and first responders should receive workers’ compensation.

But, he added, Newsom’s decision bypassed the Legislature’s approval and will make it more challenging for employers to rehire their laid-off workers once businesses can reopen.

“This will ultimately impact communities of color who are the foundation of small business employees and business owners in California,” Lapsley said.

Read More [[link removed]] California Makes It Easier To Receive Workers’ Comp For Coronavirus Claims

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Wednesday that will make it easier for essential workers who contract COVID-19 to obtain workers’ compensations benefits in a win for labor unions that called for the change.

...

Rob Lapsley, head of the California Business Roundtable, said the business community had expressed their opposition to the potential changes for the last five weeks.

“With today’s executive order, Gov. Newsom has bypassed the Legislature and increased costs on employers precisely at the same time businesses are trying to rehire employees to restart the economy,” Lapsley said in a statement.

Read More [[link removed]] California Gov. Newsom Announces Expanded Workers’ Compensation

Keeping Californians working with confidence as they increasingly begin to return to a reopening economy was the focus of two new announcements by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

...

A business group questioned the executive order changing workers’ compensation rules, saying it could negatively impact businesses in the state trying to stay afloat

“With today’s executive order, Governor Newsom has bypassed the Legislature and increased costs on employers precisely at the same time businesses are trying to rehire employees to restart the economy,” said California Business Roundtable President Rob Lapsley. “This will ultimately impact communities of color who are the foundation of small business employees and business owners in California.”

Read More [[link removed]] Business Battle Over Workers Compensation

Newsom announced that he will give workers' comp presumption to all essential workers who contract coronavirus. The California Labor Federation has been pushing for this move since at least late March. But the business community and public employers like cities, counties and school districts, many of whom are self-insured, have been fiercely pushing back, saying the costs would thrust them into insolvency and bankruptcy.

From California Business Roundtable’s Rob Lapsley: “With today’s executive order, Governor Newsom has bypassed the Legislature and increased costs on employers precisely at the same time businesses are trying to rehire employees to restart the economy. This will ultimately impact communities of color who are the foundation of small business employees and business owners in California.”

Read More [[link removed]] Business Leaders To The Governor: Time To Flatten The Unemployment Curve

As Governor Gavin Newsom was offering guidelines that allows businesses to begin opening their doors, many business leaders sent the governor recommendations [[link removed]] on how to quickly but safely get the California economy humming again. Some of the policy proposals are controversial and run headlong into positions held by labor unions but the recommendations are designed to avoid the mistakes that lead to a too-slow reviving of the economy after the Great Recession.

...

Signing onto the letter and report to the governor were: Associated General Contractors of California, Building Industry Association of Southern California, California Hotel & Lodging Association, California Building Industry Association, California Business Properties Association, California Business Roundtable, California Chamber of Commerce, California Farm Bureau Federation, California Manufacturers & Technology Association, California Retailers Association, Central Valley BizFed, Engineering Contractors’ Association, Fresno Chamber of Commerce, Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce, Inland Empire Economic Partnership, Los Angeles County BizFed, Orange County Business Council, Personal Insurance Federation of California, Southern California Leadership Council, and Valley Industry & Commerce Association.

Read More [[link removed]] Business Climate and Job Creation Coronavirus Plunges California Into Worst Budget Deficit In State History

California’s government faces a $54.3-billion budget deficit through next summer according to an analysis released Thursday by advisors to Gov. Gavin Newsom, the deepest projected fiscal hole in state history.

The estimate accounts for both an alarming erosion of tax revenues and a growing need for health and human services programs. While it measures the gap between revenues and expenditures based on projections made by Newsom in January rather than existing funds, the assessment nonetheless reflects a record-shattering collapse of the state’s economy, one created in just a matter of weeks by the fast-moving COVID-19 pandemic.

Read More [[link removed]] California Just Revealed A $54.3 Billion Deficit — Signaling Deep Cuts Ahead

California finance officials revealed a $54.3 billion deficit today in the first economic assessment of the coronavirus pandemic’s devastating blow to the fifth-largest economy in the world.

That figure is higher than the deficit during the Great Recession and obliterates the state’s once-healthy reserves.

Without sugar-coating how hard the prolonged shutdown of businesses and job losses will hit the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration released bleak projections on key statewide indicators: 18% unemployment rate for the year, 21% drop in new housing permits and nearly 9% decline in California personal income.

Read More [[link removed]] April Unemployment Rate Rose To A Record 14.7%

The April unemployment rate surged to a record 14.7% and payrolls dropped by a historic 20.5 million workers as the coronavirus pandemic hit the economy, wiping out a decade of job gains in a single month.

Employment fell sharply in all broad business sectors last month and across all groups of workers, with particularly large increases in unemployment among women, college dropouts and Hispanics.

The U.S. jobless rate eclipsed the previous record rate of 10.8% for data tracing back to 1948, though it was well below the 25% rate economists estimate was reached during the Great Depression. The job losses due to business closures triggered by the pandemic produced by far the steepest monthly decline on records back to 1939. By comparison, nearly 2 million jobs were lost in one month in 1945, at the end of World War II.

Read More [[link removed]] California Biz Groups Want Litigation Protection During Pandemic

The Civil Justice Association of California and a coalition of industries deemed essential during the coronavirus pandemic have urged Golden State Gov. Gavin Newsom to broaden a law protecting private entities from litigation liability.

In a letter dated Friday, the CJAC and nearly four dozen organizations representing the hospitality, health care, transportation, restaurant, pharmaceutical and other industries asked the governor to expand the Emergency Services Act, which protects private entities from civil liability during times of crisis, to include all industry sectors that are providing “critical goods, services and facilities” during the pandemic.

Read More [[link removed]] Overlooked Small Businesses Are Finally Getting Federal Loans

Danny Justman, manager of the Pawnmart pawnshop in Norwalk, was thrilled to see “$99,000 and change” show up in the company bank account Tuesday morning. That was his long-awaited slice of the federally sponsored Paycheck Protection Program intended to backstop small businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

About three-quarters of more than $600 billion in PPP money now has been distributed, according to the National Federation of Independent Business.

Small-business owners say they are being treated better under the latest round of emergency government-backed loans. That is just one of their concerns about surviving the coming months.

Read More [[link removed]] What A Reopened California Will Look Like — And Businesses’ Odds Of Survival

Businesses in California may start opening again as soon as Friday. But it won’t be business as usual.

Restaurants and retail are likely to reopen with new restrictions within weeks, according to recent guidance from Gov. Gavin Newsom and health officials. Businesses involving close contact and larger crowds — movie theaters, bars, hair salons, gyms — will need to wait months. And those that involve mass gatherings, like sporting events and concerts, are unlikely to reopen until the threat of the novel coronavirus has largely passed.

But can businesses even afford to open their doors under these restrictions? Or can they figure out new ways to turn a profit?

Read More [[link removed]] Are California Businesses Getting A Fair Share Of Coronavirus Loans?

California businesses have received $66.6 billion in federal Paycheck Protection Program loans so far, about 13% of the nation’s total, according to federal loan data.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state’s businesses didn’t receive a proportional share of the federal money in the first round, but that it is now “punching above its weight” in the second round, so it’s starting to balance out.

California businesses received $33.4 billion in the first round of PPP funding, Newsom said, or less than 10 percent of the total disbursement. In the second round, which is only 60 percent complete, state businesses have already drawn $33.2 billion. That’s about 11 percent of PPP loans nationwide, and 13 percent of the money distributed.

Read More [[link removed]] Enough Is Enough: Napa Business Owners Break Coronavirus Shelter-In-Place Orders And Reopen

A handful of business owners in Napa threw open their doors in recent days in violation of state and county shelter-in-place orders, saying six weeks without an income was too long and it was time for officials to relax the rules.

A restaurant, a gun and outdoor gear store, a dog groomer and an art gallery were among the businesses to resume operations in the wine country city, challenging the mandated coronavirus closures with unlocked doors and blinking open signs.

“Public officials: Know that we’re prepared to risk fines, arrest, or jail,” said Quent and Linda Cordair, owners of the Quent Cordair Fine Art gallery in downtown Napa in a letter to the community last week announcing the reopening. “We’re pursuing resources for any necessary legal challenge, up to the Supreme Court if necessary.”

Read More [[link removed]] Why Liberal Californians Don’t Want To Go Back To Normal

Housing for those who are homeless. Criminal justice reform. Addressing the digital divide for schoolchildren in rural areas.

Propelled by the urgency of the coronavirus crisis, and despite severe economic headwinds, liberal Californians see this moment as an opening to push through an agenda that addresses some of the state’s most intractable and long-debated problems.

Already, thousands of people have been let out of the state’s jails and prisons, cash bail has been eliminated for most crimes, thousands of homeless people now have roofs over their heads, and children in rural and poor areas of the state are being sent tens of thousands of laptop computers for distance learning — temporary measures to confront the pandemic that leaders are hoping will become durable solutions to longstanding problems of inequity.

Read More [[link removed]] Billions In Coronavirus Aid Will Go To Farms. But Farmers Say It’s Not Enough To Keep Them Afloat

Ryan Indart says he may have to kill off some of the sheep at his east Clovis ranch this fall. With restaurants shuttered amid the coronavirus pandemic, he has no market for his animals. When a new flock arrives in October, he won’t have enough space in his pasture if his current flock is still there.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday a $3.6 million program to help farms and food banks stay afloat, coupled with a philanthropy pledge of $15 million. That promise came on the heels of a much larger federal aid package of $19 billion for farmers and ranchers across the country.

But, Indart says, even if he gets the maximum amount of aid, it will only keep his ranch afloat for about two months at best. And the money wouldn’t cover his current losses. Farmers across the San Joaquin Valley echoed Indart’s concern.

Read More [[link removed]] The Pandemic Will Change American Retail Forever

Last weekend, I walked a mile along M Street in Washington, D.C., where I live, from the edge of Georgetown to Connecticut Avenue. The roads and sidewalks were pin-drop silent. Movie theaters, salons, fitness centers, and restaurants serving Ethiopian, Japanese, and Indian food were rendered, in eerie sameness, as one long line of darkened windows.

Because the pandemic pauses the present, it forces us to live in the future. The question I asked myself walking east through D.C. is the question so many Americans are all pondering today: Who will emerge intact from the pandemic purgatory, and who will not?

Read More [[link removed]] Telecommuting Will Likely Continue Long After The Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is, among other things, a massive experiment in telecommuting. Up to half of American workers are currently working from home, more than double the fraction who worked from home (at least occasionally) in 2017-18.

Of course, some jobs simply can’t be done at home. But the outbreak is accelerating the trend toward telecommuting, possibly for the long term. Until now, telecommuting has been slower to take hold than many predicted when remote work technology first emerged. This inertia probably reflects sticky work cultures as well as a lack of interest from employers in investing in the technology and management practices necessary to operate a tele-workforce.

Read More [[link removed]] ‘Devastated’ California Tourism Industry Losing $72 billion

California’s tourism industry is on track to lose more than $72 billion in visitor spending this year, nearly half of what it generated in 2019, according to a new report from Tourism Economics.

Tourism Economics, a provider of economic analysis, forecasts and consulting advice, prepared the report for Visit California, the state’s nonprofit tourism and marketing organization.

The study shows the COVID-19 pandemic has erased a record 10 years of growth in visitor spending, state and local tax revenue and jobs created. It will result in 613,000 California jobs lost by the end of May, the report said, more than half the industry’s workforce that had grown at an average rate of 3.2% a year for the last decade, employing 1.2 million Californians in 2019.

Read More [[link removed]] Energy and Climate Change How To Stop A Climate Vote? Threaten A ‘No Social Distancing’ Protest

San Luis Obispo was on the verge of passing an ambitious climate change policy when the proposal’s most vocal critic, Eric Hofmann, found a trump card: fear of the coronavirus.

Elected officials in this city along California’s Central Coast planned to vote on an energy code that would encourage construction of all-electric buildings, which don’t use gas appliances and aren’t hooked up to the gas grid. It’s an increasingly popular tool for cities looking to phase out fossil fuels — and a threat to the gas industry, which has mounted a vigorous counteroffensive.

Read More [[link removed]] California Snowpack Already Nearly Bare As Drought Worsens

Despite a rainy April for Southern California, Northern California's snowpack continues to thin while the ongoing drought worsens.

The amount of water being held in the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada range is now below 40%, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

The snow was only 1 ½ inches deep at a traditional manual measuring site at Phillips Station in the range east of Sacramento, and the water contained in it was equivalent to just a half-inch, which is 3 percent of the May average for the location.

Snowfall during the winter months is like California depositing money into a bank to be used later. The more snow that falls during the winter, the less likely the Golden State will have water issues later in the year.

Read More [[link removed]] Inside Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Push For A Natural Gas Pipeline

Breaking from other progressives, Rev. Jesse Jackson is calling to build a natural gas pipeline to serve an impoverished community near Chicago.

This is one example of the complex tug of war between energy affordability and tackling climate change. The tension is poised to grow as America and much of the world careen into pandemic-fueled recessions.

The move puts Jackson at odds with some Democrats and environmentalists who oppose fossil fuels because they drive climate change. The famous civil rights activist says the largely black community is being unfairly cut off from affordable energy.

Read More [[link removed]] Education and Workforce Development When Can Child Care Resume?

I used to work for hours in a row without interruptions. Now, there is an astronaut-themed Lego set on my desk that seems to move a little bit each day. As I write this, my 7-year-old is sitting next to me, deconstructing pencils instead of doing his schoolwork. In listening to an interview I had recorded, I heard a young voice in the background and then heard myself say, “I’ll help you in a second. I’m still on the phone.”

As the pandemic stretches on, many parents have wondered: When will it be possible to resume child care?

Not all parents had a choice to stop using child care in the first place. Essential workers have relied on family members, day care centers and other strategies from the beginning of the pandemic, even in the midst of stay-at-home orders and widespread facility closures. Now parents who have been working from home with schools and day cares closed are asking: Is it safe to get help from grandparents, nannies, babysitters or day cares that are starting to reopen?

Read More [[link removed]] The Coming Storm: Big Budget Cuts, Rising Costs For California Schools

State officials insist it’s too early to predict the size of the fiscal hole in the 2020-21 state budget. The filing deadline for the income and capital gains taxes for last year has been pushed back to July, and the path of the coronavirus remains unpredictable.

Next week, when he releases the May revision of the state budget from January, Gov. Gavin Newsom will likely say it’ll be bad, but stay tuned for the details later this summer.

“We can build scenarios around different levels of cuts and reductions,” said David Gordon, superintendent of the Sacramento County Office of Education, “but it’s all speculation till we see the actual numbers."

Read More [[link removed]] Can California Schools Put Safety Measures In Place In Time To Open Early? Many District Leaders Skeptical

The unexpected announcement that California schools could resume as early as late July or early August was met with immediate pushback and raised more questions than answers for school districts, teachers and parents.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s suggestion to reopen schools — aimed at mitigating the learning loss resulting from school closures that began in mid-March in response to the coronavirus pandemic — means some schools would start the school year earlier than usual.

There are concerns that schools will not have enough time and funding to stagger school schedules and create social distancing and related health plans to keep students and staff safe if campuses are reopened in late July or early August.

Read More [[link removed]] Colleges Gamble On Reopening This Fall

Colleges around the U.S. are formulating plans to welcome students back to campus this fall — afraid they'll be headed for financial catastrophe if they remain closed.

Social distancing could still be in place and medical experts say a second wave of coronavirus cases is possible in the fall, but for many universities, the revenue blows that would come with an online semester are too severe to weather. They've got no option but to figure out how to reopen.

If colleges don't open this fall, "It's not a question of whether institutions will be forced to permanently close. It’s how many," Brown University President Christina Paxson wrote in a New York Times op-ed.

Read More [[link removed]] How California Community College Foundations Are Trying To Help Students

In the third week of April, Shannon Hill approved the donation of some $35,000 in emergency aid to 40 students at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo.

Hill, the executive director of the Cuesta College Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the community college, said that in a normal school year the foundation doles out $90,000 to $100,000 in aid. But given the economic toll the pandemic has taken on students, especially the many community college students who work part-time, the foundation is aiming to distribute closer to $250,000 this year.

It’s joining other local community college foundations that have been raising money or redirecting existing funds to help plug the gap that remains after state and federal aid.

Read More [[link removed]] Back To School In China: Smaller Classes, Innovations And Lessons For Others

Smaller classes, shorter days and parental pickup at the school gate instead of a crowded journey on public transportation — for some urban Chinese students, a return to school has meant better conditions than before the epidemic.

While nearly all of China’s provinces have resumed some classes, big cities were slowest to respond, fearing a second wave of infection.

This week, after a delay of more than two months, Beijing, Shanghai and other cities reopened schools for exam-year students, with some crucial differences designed to avoid the spread of the virus.

Read More [[link removed]] LA Unified Summer School Will Offer Intensive Help, Math And English And Enrichment

An expanded summer school session in Los Angeles Unified will be offered in three parts to help make up for lost learning during school closures, Superintendent Austin Beutner said Monday.

One of those programs will be “an intensive set of classes” offered to a small number of students who are struggling the most, while other courses including math and English will be available to all students, Beutner said during a televised speech. Beutner did not say which grades would be offered the intensive classes. Barbara Jones, a spokeswoman for LA Unified, said the district has no further details about the program.

Read More [[link removed]] UC Could Reopen Just One-Third Of Its Dorm Rooms This Fall

The University of California could reopen just one-third to one-half of dorm rooms this fall in order to maintain safe distances among students amid the coronavirus outbreak, a top UC official said Monday, raising questions about what would happen to others without campus housing.

Campuses are still making decisions on their fall scenarios, which may come in June or July. Last week, UC President Janet Napolitano said campuses will first be required to satisfy systemwide guidelines to ensure public health and safety and any reopening “will probably be greatly reduced.”

Any reduced availability of dorms — and subsequent decline in housing revenue — would amplify the staggering financial toll on the UC system triggered by the coronavirus crisis.

Read More [[link removed]] Infrastructure and Housing What Will California Do About The Rent?

As the state enters May sheltering in place for the seventh straight week to stop the spread of COVID-19, nearly 1 in 5 California workers have filed for unemployment, with millions more wondering if their next paycheck will actually materialize.

A disproportionate share of the abruptly laid-off and underemployed are lower-wage renters, who were already struggling to afford the state’s sky-high housing costs before the pandemic shuttered the restaurants, retail stores and rideshare operations that employed them.

Read More [[link removed]] Newsom Announces Property Tax Relief For California Homeowners And Businesses

Gov. Gavin Newsom issued executive orders on Wednesday related to property taxes. One extends the deadline for filing a business-property statement from Thursday until May 31. The other waives penalties for property taxes paid after April 10 for some homeowners and small businesses until May 2021.

California businesses normally have until May 7 each year to file a business property statement with their county assessor, if the value of their business property exceeds $100,000. The statement shows the value of their business personal property (such as machinery, equipment and office furniture but not land or buildings) as of Jan. 1 that year. The statement is used to assess the tax due on that property.

Read More [[link removed]] Newsom’s Property Tax Relief Extends Way Past What Counties Requested Or Expected

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order giving counties the right to waive late penalties, fees and interest for many home and small-business owners who can’t pay their property taxes because of the coronavirus extends way beyond what some counties asked for or expected.

The order issued Wednesday extends through next May 6 and covers not just the second half of this year’s property taxes that were due April 10, but also the first and second payment for 2020-21 taxes due Dec. 10 and April 10.

Read More [[link removed]] New Law Allows Tenants To Sue Landlords Over Violating LA Restrictions On Evictions

Tenants will soon have the right to sue landlords who violate restrictions that Los Angeles has placed on evicting renters during the coronavirus crisis, under a law passed Wednesday by the City Council.

Renters could potentially win penalties of up to $10,000 per violation — or $15,000 per violation if the tenant is disabled or a senior. The effort was about “giving the tenants a big stick,” Councilman Bob Blumenfield said.

After the vote, Council President Nury Martinez said in a statement that while good landlords are working to help tenants stay in their units, “I want the bad operators to know, today, the city of Los Angeles is putting you on notice.”

Read More [[link removed]] Even Pandemic Can’t Slow Bay Area Home Prices

A once-in-a-century pandemic, widespread lockdowns and economic woe — none of it was enough to keep Bay Area home prices from going up.

Bay Area single family homes sales fell nearly 10 percent in March, but eager buyers continued to push prices higher despite coronavirus concerns and restrictions.

Median sale prices in the region increased 1.5 percent, led by year-over-year gains in the counties of Alameda (5.1 percent), San Mateo (6.5 percent) and Santa Clara (4.8 percent) , according to a Zillow analysis. Contra Costa County home prices grew 1.9 percent from the previous March. The median sale price for a single family home in seven Bay Area counties was $899,800.

Read More [[link removed]] Even If You Want To Buy A Home, It’s Harder Now To Get A Loan. Or Tap Home Equity.

While the number of home sales entering escrow has plunged amid the coronavirus pandemic, some people are still touring homes virtually and willing — at a time of enormous uncertainty — to make the biggest financial investment of their lives.

What they are finding, however, is lenders aren’t always willing to go along.

Read More [[link removed]] LA City Council Votes To Halt Rent Increases To Protected Units For A Year

The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to halt rent increases for units protected by the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance for 360 days to help tenants through COVID-19 pandemic.

Councilman John Lee also moved to have a report conducted on the temporary ordinance to find a way to make sure landlords can be “made whole” once the pandemic subsides, as they may need to increase rents to make improvements to their buildings.

“When this passes … landlords may be restricted,” Lee said. “I don’t want to disincentivize future people from trying to make these improvements. It’s very important, obviously, that we not only keep as much affordable housing available as possible, but … to keep it in the best condition as possible.”

Read More [[link removed]] Editorial and Opinion Now Is Not The Time For The Crushing Tax Hikes A Split Roll Would Bring

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office is predicting that tax revenues from capital gains income will be several billion dollars below what the governor’s budget anticipated. A diverse state the size of California cannot continue to go on with boom and bust budgeting.

How bad this downturn is going to be will depend on the length and severity of the COVID-19 health crisis. What we do know is that brick-and-mortar retail spending had already been dropping and now we add the halt to the restaurant, hospitality, retail, service and tourism sectors.

To add insult to injury there will be an initiative on the November 2020 ballot that will attempt to completely kill off any chance of a rebound to the California economy and getting our people back to work.

Read More [[link removed]] California Was Ready For A Recession, But Nothing Could Have Prepared It For Coronavirus

California officials offered a grim preview Thursday of what the COVID-19 pandemic could do to vital state programs and services, forecasting that legislators will face a $54-billion budget gap for the current fiscal year and the next one, which starts July 1. That’s about 10 times the size of the surplus the finance department was predicting when Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled his budget proposal for fiscal 2020-21.

The chilling report recalls the enormous budget gaps of the Schwarzenegger era, which shredded the state’s safety net and led to painful cuts to education, transportation and other programs that all Californians value. The forces wrecking the current budget, though, have little in common with those at work more than a decade ago, when a Wall Street meltdown combined with shortsighted and gridlocked politics to push the state into a hole its leaders couldn’t fill.

Read More [[link removed]] California Housing Laws Should Reflect Joint Interests Of Renters And Landlords

We often hear a narrative that landlords and tenants are on opposite sides. We also hear that tenants need protection from landlords. Landlords are framed as the Big, Bad Wolf — viewed as faceless corporations that don’t care about anything but their bottom line. Indeed, that paints an ugly picture — but it’s not an accurate one.

The truth is that much of our industry is made up of small independent owners and managers. In fact, 78.4% of the Southern California Rental Housing Association’s members are independent rental owners. These properties are owned by families, by women, by people of different ethnic backgrounds and faiths. They are owned and managed by small businesses doing their best to keep their residents happy and their investments well maintained.

Read More [[link removed]] We Can’t Reopen The Economy Without Child Care

Just in the last two days, more governors, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have given their blessing to allow previously shuttered retail stores, including bookshops, clothing stores and sporting goods dealers, to reopen for limited operations. Construction and manufacturing are getting the go-ahead in some states, while others are allowing some dine-in restaurants.

Of course businesses have to reopen eventually. It makes sense to take cautious, incremental steps toward returning to some kind of normal.

But while there’s been lots of debate over which retailers can open and how many tables restaurants can safely manage, there’s been far too little discussion of another serious challenge posed by the staggered reopening: An increasing number of employees are expected to show up for work, starting now. Their jobs can’t be done remotely. But the schools are still closed, child care is limited, and it’s risky to rely on grandparents and extended family when babysitting could expose them to infected but asymptomatic kids. What’s a working parent supposed to do?

Read More [[link removed]] Newsom Undermines His Own Credibility

When California legislators, decades ago, gave governors the power to declare emergencies and quickly deal with them, they probably had in mind sudden events such as earthquakes, wildfires or perhaps riots.

They probably didn’t envision a governor assuming almost dictatorial power over the social and economic lives of every Californian for the indefinite future, as Gavin Newsom did when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the state. Newsom shut down much of the state’s economy and commanded Californians to shelter in place.

From an epidemiological standpoint it seems to be working. Infections, hospitalizations and deaths are running well below early predictions. However, as the shutdown continues, as ordinary Californians grow weary of isolation and as the economic damage mounts, there are stirrings of rebellion and rising criticism of Newsom’s acts.

Read More [[link removed]] Yet Another Ballot Measure Threatening Major Tax Increases

While everybody’s stuck at home waiting for the lockdown to be lifted, this would be a good time to tell you about an initiative set for the November 3 ballot that could sharply raise property taxes for your children if anything happens to you.

Back in 1986, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 58, which created an exclusion from reassessment for property transferred between parents and children, meaning the property tax bill would stay the same. And then in 1996, voters adopted Proposition 193, a similar exclusion for property transferred between grandparents and grandchildren in the event that the grandchildren’s parents were deceased.

An initiative that would repeal these two constitutional amendments has just qualified for the November ballot. If the measure receives a simple majority of the votes cast, property that is transferred between parents and children, or grandparents and grandchildren, will be reassessed to market value as of the date of transfer.

Read More [[link removed]] Rush To Reopen California’s Economy Is A Mistake

This is no time to go back to business as usual. The intense longing for a return to normalcy in California and other states is understandable. But the rush to reopen businesses is premature and ignores the warnings of health experts and the basic science of the novel coronavirus.

The risk is the kind of second-wave surge that killed thousands in the Bay Area during the 1918 Spanish influenza. Indeed, a draft government report forecasts sharp increases in COVID-19 cases and deaths nationally beginning around May 14.

Yet Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that the next stage in reopening California’s economy will take place Friday.

Read More [[link removed]] Bailout Needed In The Form Of Rent And Mortgage Forgiveness

After the Great Recession of 2008, Congress enacted a federal stimulus package that bailed out the banking and auto industries. This time around, Angelenos and the American people need a bailout in the form of rent and mortgage forgiveness.

Only an act of Congress can provide this level of stability as the COVID-19 pandemic eases and we eventually regain a sense of normalcy. Any post COVID-19 recovery will be hard enough without people having to worry about how they’ll make ends meet, stay housed and fulfill their financial obligations. Every level of government has a part to play. Los Angeles certainly cannot do it alone.

Read More [[link removed]] It’s Time To Review AB 5 If Policymakers Really Want To Restart California’s Economy

“Bring Back Borello!” will never work as a rallying cry, but it might be a timely agenda item for California legislators to seriously consider when the coronavirus coast is clear for them to return to Sacramento.

In the meantime, the April 30 second anniversary of the state Supreme Court’s Dynamex decision and the Assembly Bill 5 it subsequently unleashed should be reviewed with all due dispatch if policymakers are sincerely committed to restarting the state’s economy.

As with anything, a few bad actors can ruin it for everyone. If I run a business and can classify all my employees as independent contractors, even though I treat them like employees by directing their work, I can save a bundle on state and federal taxes and on things like unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation premiums. The independent contractor is responsible for all that.

Read More [[link removed]] Latinas Are More Vulnerable To Economic Insecurity Because Of COVID-19

As our communities grapple with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, structural inequities in our health care systems and economy have been brought to light, with Latinos and people of color bearing the brunt of these injustices.

Not only is the health of Latinos being disproportionately affected as a result of COVID-19, Latinos are also disproportionately feeling the economic instability of this crisis.

As Congress and the California Legislature work on the next wave of aid packages, it has become increasingly clear that they must do more to include assistance for Latina workers who are on the frontlines of this crisis and who have lost their jobs and wages, regardless of their immigration status.

Read More [[link removed]] Our Economic Recovery Depends On Policies That Benefit Women

The pandemic has revealed a problem at the heart of our economy with glaring clarity: Women, and especially women of color, are more likely to be the breadwinners in their households than ever before, while most of the unpaid responsibilities at home continue to fall on them.

Yet, our public policies and private sector practices are rarely designed to support their dual roles, leaving us all vulnerable as a result. As we work our way through the pandemic-induced economic crisis, we must center women in our economic decision-making and recognize the key role they play in the financial security of their families, communities and the nation at large.

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]