Web Version [link removed] | Update Preferences [link removed] CBRT in the News California’s Proposition 13 Ballot Fight Intensifies With Coronavirus Pandemic

A proposed change to California’s sacrosanct Proposition 13 that seeks to raise $12 billion annually for schools and local government was already primed to be one of the hottest battles on the November ballot before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

But the financial damage brought on by the disease is transforming the fight over a measure that would raise property taxes for many businesses into a struggle over the future of California.

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“It will increase the cost of living in California,” said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, which opposes the initiative as part of a coalition called Californians to Save Prop. 13 and Stop Higher Property Taxes. “People are already gravely concerned that California is too expensive a place to live.”

Read More [[link removed]] CRE Group Prepared To Sue To Block Bill Allowing Retailers Out Of Leases

California Business Roundtable President Rob Lapsley says the business lobby is prepared to sue to block SB 939, a bill that would allow hospitality tenants across the state to walk away from their lease agreements.

Sponsored by state Sens. Scott Wiener, a Democrat representing San Francisco, and Lena Gonzalez, a Democrat from Long Beach, SB 939 advanced after a 5-1 vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday.

"While CBRT is working hard to help all business sectors recover during this economic crisis, we are opposed to legislation like SB 939 that conveniently shifts the burden from one business sector to another, creating equally devastating consequences without solving the core problem," Lapsley said in a statement before the hearing last week.

Read More [[link removed]] California Advances Bill Allowing Some Restaurants, Bars To Terminate Leases Amid Coronavirus

The California Senate advanced on Friday a bill that would allow some hospitality tenants to terminate leases if negotiations with landlords to modify terms aren’t successful during coronavirus.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-1 to advance SB 939, which authorizes lease renegotiations for restaurants, bars, cafes and entertainment businesses who have lost at least 40% of monthly revenue or will be required to reduce capacity by 25% or more when they reopen.

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Rob Lapsley, president of California Business Roundtable, said during Friday’s Senate hearing that the group is prepared to sue to block the bill.

Read More [[link removed]] California Senators Advance Contentious Business Relief Bill

Coming to the aid of businesses short on rent, California lawmakers on Friday advanced a statewide moratorium on commercial evictions and a path for those hit hardest by the pandemic to cancel their leases.

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“If the goal is to help restaurants, the state should prioritize financial resources to help restaurants, not unfairly shift the crisis to property owners,” said Rob Lapsley, president of the business roundtable. “It’s clear this bill has significant constitutional problems; we hope this should be clear and persuasive enough to vote no. If not, we will be pursuing this issue in the courts as needed.”

Read More [[link removed]] Realtors Say They’ll Sue To Block Restaurant Rent Abatement Plan

Real estate groups across California say they’ll sue to kill legislation that would let bars and restaurants pay back missed rent payments over the next year.

Former San Francisco Supervisor turned State Senator Scott Wiener proposed California State Bill 939 earlier this month, a plan he concocted with Sen. Lena Gonzalez that would allow bars and restaurants to end leases early, pay back rent payments missed during the pandemic over a 12-month period, and ban commercial evictions during the crisis. On Friday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-1 to advance the bill, the SF Chronicle reports, progress that dismayed real estate groups that say the plan will deal a mortal blow to the state’s landlords.

At Friday’s hearing, Rob Lapsley, the president of the California Business Roundtable, said that his organization would sue to block the bill, should it be approved by the state Senate and Assembly.

Read More [[link removed]] Business Climate and Job Creation U.S. Jobless Claims Pass 40 Million

Another 2.1 million unemployment claims were filed last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, pushing the total past 40 million — the equivalent of one out of every four American workers — since the coronavirus pandemic grabbed hold in mid-March.

The report marks the eighth week in a row that new jobless filings dipped from the peak of almost 6.9 million, but the level is still far above historic highs.

The latest claims may be not only a result of fresh layoffs, but also evidence that states are working their way through a backlog. And overcounting in some places and undercounting in others makes it difficult to measure the layoffs precisely.

Read More [[link removed]] Consumer Spending Fell A Record 13.6% In April

U.S. consumer spending, the U.S. economy’s main engine, fell by a record 13.6% in April during coronavirus lockdowns, but there are signs that purchasing is slowly creeping up.

Personal income, which includes wages, interest and dividends, increased 10.5% in April, the Commerce Department reported Friday. The jump reflected a sharp rise in government payments through federal rescue programs, primarily one-time household stimulus payments of $1,200. Unemployment insurance payments also rose sharply in April, helping make up for some of the 8% decline in wages and salaries tied to job losses.

The April drop in spending was the steepest for records tracing back to 1959. Weak April spending adds to the evidence that the U.S. economy is in for a long, slow recovery. The coronavirus pandemic and related lockdowns wiped out a decade of job gains within a month.

Read More [[link removed]] Big Bankruptcies Sweep The U.S. In Fastest Pace Since May 2009

In the first few weeks of the pandemic, it was just a trickle: companies like Alaskan airline Ravn Air pushed into bankruptcy as travel came to a halt and markets collapsed. But the financial distress wrought by the shutdowns only deepened, producing what is now a wave of insolvencies washing through America’s corporations.

In May alone, some 27 companies reporting at least $50 million in liabilities sought court protection from creditors -- the highest number since the Great Recession. They range from well-known U.S. mainstays such as J.C. Penney Co. and J. Crew Group Inc. to air carriers Latam Airlines Group SA and Avianca Holdings, their business decimated as travelers stayed put.

In May 2009, 29 major companies filed for bankruptcy, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. And year-to-date, there have been 98 bankruptcies filed by companies with at least $50 million in liabilities -- also the highest since 2009, when 142 companies filed in the first four months.

Read More [[link removed]] House Passes Bill Loosening Rules On PPP Small-Business Loans

The House approved a bipartisan bill that would loosen requirements on hundreds of billions of dollars in small-business loans, responding to concerns from employers struggling to stay open during the coronavirus pandemic.

The House bill reduces the level of Paycheck Protection Program funds that must be used for payroll to 60% from 75%. The bill also gives borrowers up to 24 weeks to use the funds, up from the eight set in the initial bill passed in March, and extends the deadline to rehire workers to Dec. 31.

The bill passed 417-1 on Thursday, with many of the Democratic votes read into the record by their assigned proxy, taking advantage of a rule change this week that allows remote voting for the first time. Republicans have rejected proxy voting and have filed a lawsuit to block the practice.

Read More [[link removed]] State And Local Budget Woes Create Drag For Economic Recovery Prospects

The hit to U.S. state and local finances from the coronavirus pandemic could be a drag on the nation’s economic recovery for years to come, if the past is any guide.

State and local government spending and employment levels didn’t fully recover from the 2007-09 recession until last fall, a decade after the downturn ended and only a few months before the coronavirus led to a new round of cuts.

Economists, including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, worry that today’s cuts could once again take a long time to heal and could slow the economic recovery.

Read More [[link removed]] Assembly To Newsom: Don’t Count On Feds To Rescue California From Deep Budget Cuts

California shouldn’t rely so heavily on money from the federal government to close its budget deficit, a bipartisan chorus of lawmakers told the administration of Gov. Gavin Newsom during an unusual hearing Tuesday.

Almost every member of the state Assembly spoke out about Newsom’s proposal to slash billions from the budget amid the pandemic-induced recession.

The governor’s approach — which would cut $14 billion to schools, health care and safety net programs unless more funding comes through from the federal government — ignores “pure science in favor of political science,” said Assemblyman Jim Wood, a Healdsburg Democrat.

Read More [[link removed]] California’s Coronavirus Budget Crisis Leaves Newsom And Lawmakers At Odds

A sharp political and public policy rift emerged Thursday between Gov. Gavin Newsom and his fellow Democrats in the California Legislature over how to navigate the bleak economic road ahead after a state Senate panel rejected more than half of the spending cuts in the $203.3-billion proposed budget he unveiled two weeks ago.

The alternative budget adopted by Senate Democrats differs from the governor’s proposal to address the state’s pandemic-generated deficit in several key ways. It exceeds Newsom’s plan in its funding for K-12 schools, though it delays full payment of those funds.

It assumes lower costs for programs that help the state’s poorest residents. And it employs a variety of cash management procedures, some first used during the Great Recession and criticized as gimmicks that allowed state services to stretch beyond their means.

Read More [[link removed]] Silicon Valley Wields Tech Shield Against Layoffs

Silicon Valley, often called an engine of California’s economy, was able to wield the shield of its vaunted tech sector in April to ward off some of the economic fallout unleashed by coronavirus-linked business shutdowns.

April’s job losses were nothing short of a catastrophe for California: 2.34 million jobs lost statewide, 555,100 positions erased in the Bay Area.

Yet Santa Clara County’s employment losses were far less pronounced than elsewhere in the Golden State, according to this news organization’s analysis of job statistics compiled by Beacon Economics and UC Riverside.

Read More [[link removed]] Uber, Lyft And DoorDash Initiative Seeking Labor Law Exemption Heads To California Voters

An expensive ballot measure championed by Uber, Lyft and DoorDash to exempt their drivers from a new California law that requires companies to give benefits to more workers qualified Friday for the November election.

The initiative promises to raise compensation for ride-hailing and delivery drivers by requiring companies to pay them above minimum wage, plus 30 cents per mile, according to the coalition. It would also mandate health care coverage for drivers who work at least 15 hours per week, and provide insurance for on-the-job injuries.

The coalition was required to collect 623,212 signatures, or 5 percent of the total votes cast for governor in the 2018 election, which it had accomplished by February.

Read More [[link removed]] How California Farms Can Survive The Post-Pandemic World

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, few industries have been quite as essential to the nation as agriculture.

From pickers crouching for nine hours a day to scoop up strawberries to CEOs making handshake deals to keep their companies afloat, hundreds of thousands of workers are feeding America. But, in many ways, the pandemic is forcing farmers to reevaluate how they do business.

Across California, nearly 60% of farmers have lost significant revenue, washing their milk down drains, beefing their dairy cows and ploughing under their lettuce and other crops, according to surveys carried out by the California Farm Bureau Federation and the Monterey County Office of Agriculture.

Read More [[link removed]] Facebook’s Embrace Of Remote Work Could Reshape Bay Area Economy

In 2018, Facebook signed the biggest office lease in San Francisco history at Park Tower, a testament to the social media giant’s relentless growth, both digital and physical. Late last year, the company signed a New York office deal for twice as much space.

But with offices shuttered across the world by the coronavirus, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that up to half of the company’s employees, who currently number 48,000, could work remotely within 10 years.

The number isn’t a goal, but represents the company’s recognition that concentrating employees in one big office, like its Menlo Park headquarters, may not be possible for a long time. Almost all Facebook workers can work from home through the rest of 2020, and the company is letting some employees seek permission to work remotely indefinitely.

Read More [[link removed]] The Downsides Of Remote Work

The coronavirus pandemic has forced a large-scale experiment in working from home. It has gone well enough that many companies are expanding their remote work expectations for the foreseeable future, and remote employees want to continue to work that way.

The downsides of remote work — less casual interaction with colleagues, an over-reliance on Zoom, lack of in-person collaboration and longer hours — could over time diminish the short-term gains.

"The longer we remain fully remote, the more difficult it is going to be to mitigate a rate of decay in culture," said Rob Falzon, vice chair of Prudential and architect of Prudential’s Future of Work initiative. "That should be keeping leaders up at night."

Read More [[link removed]] Newsom Faces Growing Concerns That He's Reopening California Too Quickly

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s rapid reopening strategy is drawing concerns from lawmakers and public health officials who fear the governor is basing decisions more on political pressure than science.

Newsom’s reopening plan started just over two weeks ago with a handful of rural counties with relatively few cases allowing restaurant dining and shopping in stores. Now, most of the state has been given the go-ahead to reopen churches, malls and hair salons. And gyms will get guidance within "a week or so," the governor said Wednesday.

It's too fast for Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Orinda), a moderate “pro-business” Democrat. He argues the governor is caving into political pressure while ignoring dangerous “blind spots” in the state's health data. He said the governor’s first priority should be mandating widespread testing that will provide the necessary information to attack the virus on all fronts.

Read More [[link removed]] Santa Clara Health Officer Suggests California Is Reopening Too Soon

The local public health officer who led the nation’s first regional shelter-in-place order early in the Covid-19 pandemic sounded the alarm Tuesday on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s swift reopening plans, which now allow haircuts and church services.

After keeping the state largely in lockdown since March 19, Newsom has quickly advanced counties that meet certain criteria — now up to 47 out of 58 counties — through his reopening phases. Newsom announced Tuesday that barbers and hair salons can reopen in those 47 counties, a day after he said religious gatherings and protests could occur with up to 100 people.

“The pace at which the state has made these modifications is concerning to me,” Santa Clara Public Health Officer Sara Cody told the county Board of Supervisors at their Tuesday afternoon meeting, noting that other states have exercised more caution, including New Jersey, which limited such gatherings to 25 people, and New York, where no more than 10 are allowed.

Read More [[link removed]] How Are Small Businesses Adjusting To COVID-19? Early Evidence From A Survey

In addition to its impact on public health, COVID-19 has had a major impact on the economy. To shed light on how COVID-19 is affecting small businesses – and on the likely impact of the recent stimulus bill, we conducted a survey of more than 5,800 small businesses. Several main themes emerge from the results.

Read More [[link removed]] The Effects Of COVID-19 On International Labor Markets

When confronting the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic consequences, elected leaders from around the world have quickly created and implemented novel and massive relief programs. Though they vary in detail, the relief strategies can broadly be classified along one key dimension: the extent to which their economic relief is given directly to workers by a government agency or channeled through a pre-existing employment relationship.

Even in the countries with low unemployment levels presently, there are no guarantees that employers can avoid layoffs after the wage supports end, but all of these countries have seemingly traversed the worst wave of peak COVID-19 deaths and cases, and they are gradually re-opening. In so far as layoffs increase the risk of permanent separation, which evidence from prior recessions suggests, these patterns suggest that the recovery will likely be more robust and less painful in the countries that avoided layoffs.

Read More [[link removed]] Energy and Climate Change Big Oil Loses Appeal To Stop Climate Lawsuits From Going To Court In California

Big Oil lost a pair of court battles Tuesday that could lead to trials in lawsuits by California cities and counties seeking damages for the impact of climate change.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments by energy companies and ruled that state courts are the proper forum for lawsuits alleging that producers promoted petroleum as environmentally responsible when they knew it was contributing to drought, wildfires and sea-level rise associated with global warming.

The lawsuits claim Chevron, Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and other companies created a public nuisance and should pay for damage from climate change and help build sea walls and other infrastructure to protect against future impact — construction that could cost tens of billions of dollars.

Read More [[link removed]] Battle Between Trump And California Over Car Pollution Heads To Court

California and nearly two dozen other states on Wednesday filed suit against the Trump administration, arguing that its decision to weaken fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks puts the public’s health at risk and is based on flawed science.

The lawsuit is the latest step in an escalating battle between the administration and Democratic state attorneys general, who have used the courts to push back against the president’s agenda of diluting environmental regulations in order to bolster the economy.

The outcome is likely to be decided by the Supreme Court and could have serious consequences for California and the 13 other states that have embraced tougher car pollution standards than those set by the federal government.

Read More [[link removed]] California’s Cap-And-Trade Program Generates Severely Reduced Revenue

With demand for fossil fuels down across the state, California’s latest quarterly cap-and-trade auction generated very little money for the state to spend on key environmental programs.

The auction results are another sign that industrial activity in California has been severely weakened by the statewide shelter-in-place order meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

The latest auction produced just $25 million in revenue, significantly less than the $600 million to $850 million raised at similar auctions during the last three years.

Read More [[link removed]] Plastic Bags Have Lobbyists. They're Winning.

The plastic shopping bag has long been hunted by state and local policymakers pushing for its extinction. But still it thrives, thanks to the deep-pocketed chemical industry that birthed it and the political influence of retailers and restaurants. Only eight states ban single-use plastic bags. Nearly twice as many have laws protecting them.

To take on a global and well-heeled industry, U.S. environmentalists have adopted a strategy of winning hyper-local grassroots victories to build momentum to ban the bag and other plastics. The approach helped California environmentalists win a referendum to uphold a bag ban in 2016, and, in 2019, legislation to phase out plastic hotel toiletry bottles.

Read More [[link removed]] Flying Dirty: Why Airlines Emissions Rise Even When They Try To Cut

When the Wright brothers first took flight back in 1903, it’s unlikely they considered that the industry would become notorious for pollution. Today, aviation is responsible for 12 percent of all carbon emissions in the transport sector, and 2 percent of overall global emissions.

The industry itself has emphasized in recent years its efforts at becoming carbon neutral. And indeed, several airlines have turned to more efficient engines and streamlined aircraft while also experimenting with alternative (and less polluting) fuels. That’s helping them reduce their carbon emissions per passenger, for each mile they fly.

Read More [[link removed]] Education and Workforce Development Should The Child Care Industry Get A Bailout?

It has become agonizingly clear to parents of young children that the economy cannot fully reopen without child care. Yet a significant number of child care providers have not been able to survive the lockdown.

The sector was already fragile: Unlike public education, the child care industry operates almost entirely on private tuition payments, and most providers are barely profitable. With closings because of the coronavirus, many cannot continue to pay landlords or teachers.

Now that more states are allowing child care centers to reopen, those that survived face higher expenses because of additional rules about sanitation and new limits, like no more than 10 children per classroom. In some cases, enrollment is down because parents can no longer afford to pay or they’re worried about the health risks.

Read More [[link removed]] A Looming Financial Meltdown For America's Schools

Austin Beutner looked haggard, his face a curtain of worry lines. The superintendent of the second-largest school district in the nation sat at a desk last week delivering a video address to Los Angeles families. But he began with a stark message clearly meant for another audience: Lawmakers in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

"Cuts to funding at schools will forever impact the lives of children," Beutner said less than a week after California's governor called for emergency cuts in education spending. The harm children face from these cuts, Beutner warned, "is just as real a threat to them as is the coronavirus."

Similar alarms are sounding in districts across the country. With the nation's attention still fixed on the COVID-19 health crisis, school leaders are warning of a financial meltdown that could devastate many districts and set back an entire generation of students.

Read More [[link removed]] Cash-Strapped Bay Area School District Braces For Cuts In State Funding

The financial fallout from the coronavirus is threatening the budgets of all California schools, but cash-strapped districts like West Contra Costa Unified may be hit the hardest.

The district was already spending beyond its means prior to COVID-19, and estimated it had a projected deficit of $48 million by 2022. To reduce the projected deficit, it cut around $30 million from next school year’s budget in February, a move that required teacher and staff layoffs. It aimed to cut the remaining $18 million from the budget for the 2021-2022 school year. But now with funding shortfalls on the horizon and higher costs due to the pandemic, district officials fear that more difficult choices are ahead.

Read More [[link removed]] California Students To Wear Masks, Get Daily Temperature Checks Under Newsom Rules

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s reopening guidelines for schools include recommendations that students and teachers wear face coverings and receive daily temperature checks, according to a summary of the not-yet-released state guidance.

A summary of the guidance obtained by POLITICO suggests keeping desks six feet apart or creating partitions between desks and staggering arrival and drop off times to minimize physical contact. It also includes considerations for increased sanitation and portable hand washing stations.

Read More [[link removed]] One-Way Halls, Lunch At Desk, Playing Alone. LA Schools Could Reopen With Stark Rules

Sixteen students to a class. One-way hallways. Students lunch at their desks. Children could get one ball to play with — alone. Masks are required. A staggered school day brings on new schedules to juggle.

These campus scenarios could play out based on new Los Angeles County school reopening guidelines released Wednesday. This planning document will affect 2 million students and their families as educators undertake a challenge forced on them by the coronavirus crisis: fundamentally redesigning the traditional school day.

The safe reopening of schools in California and throughout the nation compels the reimagining — or abandoning — of long-held traditions and goals of the American school day, where play time, socialization and hands-on support have long been essential to the learning equation in everything from science labs and team sports to recess and group work.

Read More [[link removed]] Infrastructure and Housing Owners Work On Rent Issues

As the Covid-19 pandemic rages on, forcing some businesses to close and leaving others with financial challenges, many companies have sought some kind of rent relief.

In many cases, building owners and tenants are working out rent deferrals rather than rent abatements, or suspensions. These deferrals can take a few different forms, but generally tenants are given a few months where they do not have to pay rent before beginning to pay down the back rent over time.

Sometimes this allowance comes in exchange for tenants signing a longer lease. “Both landlords and tenants are trying to be pragmatic and realistic and negotiate in good faith,” said Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. Southwest Market Director Peter Belisle.

Read More [[link removed]] An ‘Avalanche of Evictions’ Could Be Bearing Down On America’s Renters

The United States, already wrestling with an economic collapse not seen in a generation, is facing a wave of evictions as government relief payments and legal protections run out for millions of out-of-work Americans who have little financial cushion and few choices when looking for new housing.

The hardest hit are tenants who had low incomes and little savings even before the pandemic, and whose housing costs ate up more of their paychecks. They were also more likely to work in industries where job losses have been particularly severe.

Temporary government assistance has helped, as have government orders that put evictions on hold in many cities. But evictions will soon be allowed in about half of the states, according to Emily A. Benfer, a housing expert and associate professor at Columbia Law School who is tracking eviction policies.

Read More [[link removed]] How Coronavirus Has Upended Life For Thousands At California’s Largest Apartment Complex

In the middle of March, Luc Bernard came down with something he had never felt before. He had a constant cough, trouble breathing and couldn’t get to sleep. Fearing he had the novel coronavirus, he went to the hospital.

Back then, it was hard to get tested. Instead, doctors told him to go home and self-isolate. But that’s not easy when you live in Park La Brea, surrounded by more than 10,000 people, all connected via elevators, hallways, tree-lined paths and parking lots.

Bernard told his landlord, Prime Residential Apartments, that he planned to sequester himself in the two-story, three-bedroom apartment he shares with a roommate. So he was surprised to come downstairs one morning to find a maintenance worker fixing a broken light in his kitchen.

Read More [[link removed]] Thousands Of Struggling LA Residents Could Get Rent Relief Under $100-Million City Council Proposal

Tens of thousands of renters facing pandemic-related economic struggles in Los Angeles could receive financial assistance under a plan set to be unveiled today from Council President Nury Martinez.

The $100 million in proposed rent relief is necessary to keep financially strapped Angelenos in their homes, Martinez said.

“You can see the desperation in people’s eyes about how they’re going to feed their families let alone how they’re going to pay their rent,” said Martinez, who represents eastern San Fernando Valley neighborhoods.

The economic devastation of the novel coronavirus shutdown has been felt across the region, with the unemployment rate in L.A. County topping 20%.

Read More [[link removed]] Will Corporate Landlords Gobble Up Homes During Downturn? California Politicians Are Concerned

As the economy has cratered, California politicians are increasingly concerned that corporate landlords could swoop in and buy up single-family housing — in a repeat of the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

The alarm has been raised by Governor Gavin Newsom, whose budget includes pledges about "guarding against private sector actors buying up distressed assets," and L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis, who told LAist "many communities were ravaged by what happened back in 2008."

They're raising the issue as the CEO of a Starwood, a large real estate investor, told shareholders, "when it's really ugly, it's a good time to invest."

Read More [[link removed]] Proposal Would Force California Counties To Pay Cash Rebates To Commercial Landlords

A push to provide tax relief to commercial landlords has quietly advanced in California’s capitol. For a scheme with such potentially devastating consequences for schools and local governments, it’s garnered surprisingly little attention.

Come May 29, the state Board of Equalization (BOE) will vote on a plan that would give cash rebates to commercial landlords that claim the pandemic has had a similar value-diminishing effect as fires, earthquakes and other disasters that cause physical damage.

The BOE oversees county assessors, who’d have to cut those checks triggered by reassessments. The proposal’s backers, the California Alliance of Taxpayer Advocates (which goes by CATA), represents the attorneys whose job it is to appeal assessors’ property valuations.

Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone vehemently opposes the idea.

Read More [[link removed]] As Lockdown Orders Lift, Can Cities Prevent A Traffic Catastrophe?

Over the past few months, cities have had to deal with tremendous challenges — fighting a pandemic, preserving essential services, protecting their own workers, coping with devastating budget cuts.

One thing local officials didn't have to worry about was traffic, as the pandemic emptied city streets. But that's about to change.

Read More [[link removed]] California Bullet Train Could End Up Needing Subsidies, Despite Promises To Voters

When California voters approved bonds in 2008 to build a bullet train across much of the state, a ballot measure promised them that future passenger service would not require operating subsidies.

State officials asserted over the next decade that their system would attract so many millions of riders that it would actually turn a profit.

Now it is debatable whether those promises will be met.

Read More [[link removed]] Editorial and Opinion Seven Steps California Can Take To Prevent A Coronavirus Housing And Homelessness Disaster

If you thought California had a housing and homelessness crisis before COVID-19, just wait. The pandemic could make it all so much worse.

The unemployment rate hit nearly 15% in April, the highest it’s been since World War II, and some 23 million Americans are out of work. Low-income households have been particularly hard hit, with 40% of job losses among workers who earn less than $40,000 a year. These are people who struggled to cover their housing expenses and other monthly bills before the pandemic.

It’s no wonder experts are warning that California could see a 20% increase in homelessness, with the surge even more severe in other parts of the country. If the downturn drags on, we could see more evictions and foreclosures than the Great Recession triggered.

Read More [[link removed]] Tax Hikes In The Midst Of Recession?

It’s the multi-billion-dollar question of the moment: in the midst of a sudden recession that has erased, at least temporarily, millions of jobs, would Californians support a batch of new taxes to prop up state and local government services?

Gov. Gavin Newsom implicitly posed the question in his much-revised 2020-21 budget. It assumes a $41.2 billion drop in revenues from the initial budget he unveiled in January, pegs the total deficit at $54.3 billion and makes wholesale reductions in K-12 schools, higher education and other popular services to close the gap.

Newsom may be maximizing the state’s projected fiscal problem to bolster his plea, and that of other governors, for federal pandemic relief. But there’s no doubt that he and the Legislature have a big hole of some size to fill and with relief in Washington stalemated and a June 15 budget deadline looming, an option would be to boost state taxes.

Read More [[link removed]] California Left Billions Of Repatriated Tax Dollars On The Table, The State Should Pick Up That Money Now

Given the precipitous drop in economic activity caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the increase in demands on state resources, California now finds itself in a budget crisis, despite having built up a $20 billion reserve.

The governor is projecting a deficit of more than $54 billion. Instead of balancing the budget with massive cuts, California could pick up much needed revenue by taxing the windfall given to the most profitable corporations by the 2017 federal tax cuts.

It is plainly appropriate that the federal government, which can borrow at extremely low rates, come to the aid of the states. Unfortunately, it appears that the federal government is not planning to do nearly enough to help state and local governments weather their looming budget deficits caused by the pandemic.

Read More [[link removed]] California’s Skewed Tax System Is Harming Economic Recovery

Once proudly prosperous, California is suddenly on its knees. A jobless rate topping 15%, empty downtown streets and a lockdown-weary population can do that to a once golden image.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has a plan, or at least the outline of one, to plot the state’s rebound. He’s picked a star-laden panel of savvy experts and interest group figures to suggest what steps to take. It’s more than measuring pandemic figures and green-lighting openings. It’s meant to take on the whole notion of recovery with the hint of rewriting the economic rules.

Or it could settle for less by offering tax breaks and wandering into the weeds on workplace fixes or regulatory shifts. That would be a cop-out.

Read More [[link removed]] The Blue State Lockdown Blues

The state lockdowns are starting to ease and the U.S. economy should slowly begin to recover. But it’s worth noting that the states opening most slowly are big states run by Democrats that represent something like a third of the U.S. economy. This means a slower recovery for those states and the U.S.

It’s been nearly 10 weeks since the Democratic governors of California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois ordered all businesses in their states to shut down save those they deemed essential. Job losses in these states have been especially severe because of their strict lockdowns.

Amid political and economic pressure, Democrats are beginning to let some businesses reopen with restrictions. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and New Jersey’s Phil Murphy have allowed retail curbside pickup. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is allowing limited dine-in eating and personal services in some counties, but Bay Area and Los Angeles counties maintain strict lockdowns.

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