Web Version [link removed] | Update Preferences [link removed] CBRT in the News California Voters Reject Revamp Of Property Tax System

California voters rejected a proposal to partially dismantle the state’s 42-year-old cap on property taxes, a move that would have have raised taxes for many businesses in a pandemic-hobbled economy.

Following Tuesday’s update to the vote count, Proposition 15 had only about 48% support and was trailing by more than a half-million votes.

The loss is another blow to organized labor, which also came out on the losing side of the most expensive ballot question in state history. It would have required Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other app-based delivery services to treat their drivers as employees rather than independent contractors.

Since 1978, California has limited tax increases to 2% a year until a property is sold. With prices climbing at a much higher rate, taxpayers who have held homes and businesses for many years pay far less than what the market value would determine.

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The No on 15 campaign had a simple message: “Stop Tax Hikes,” its red-and-white yard signs read.

Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable and co-chair of the No on Prop 15 campaign, said the outcome signals efforts to dismantle the 1978 tax system will fail.

Read More [[link removed]] Letters To The Editor: The Message From Prop. 15's Failure? Leave Prop. 13 Alone

For years, the California Business Roundtable has advocated for comprehensive tax reform that modernizes our tax system. We agree that our tax system is broken. (“California had the chance to start fixing its broken tax system. It balked,” editorial, Nov. 12)

Along with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., we were the main proponent of the measure in 2014 to close the “loophole” that allows businesses to skirt the true intent of Proposition 13, California’s 1978 property tax law. We absolutely agree it should be closed.

But the unions and the education community stopped that bill in the Legislature. Why? Because they wanted to use the “loophole” issue to further undo Proposition 13.

Now that voters have rejected Proposition 15 and expressed their support for Proposition 13 protections for homes and businesses, it’s time for the governor and the Legislature to join us at the table to begin the difficult discussions on real tax reform.

Robert Lapsley, Sacramento

The writer is president of the California Business Roundtable

Read More [[link removed]] Newsom Issues Evening Curfew Ahead Of Thanksgiving Week

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday a month-long curfew covering nearly all Californians to start Saturday, the latest in a series of tough new restrictions aimed at stopping the state’s alarming spike in COVID-19 cases.

The curfew starting right before Thanksgiving week will shut down non-essential work and gatherings from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and applies to all counties in the most restrictive purple tier of California’s reopening plan. The order will remain in effect until Dec. 21.

Essential businesses, such as grocery stores, will be exempted. However, restaurants may offer takeout only after 10 p.m. and people can walk their dogs during curfew hours, California’s top health official said during an update.

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The timing of the retrenchment just before the busy holiday season is “the worst possible” for businesses that rely on end-of-year spending to stay afloat, said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable.

He interpreted the curfew as an acknowledgement that social gatherings are the state’s main target, rather than activities during normal business hours. Still, Lapsley is one of several business advocates who has been frustrated by a lack of comprehensive public data on where virus transmission is occurring in California, as well as a failure to enact state economic stimulus measures after federal talks crumbled this fall.

Read More [[link removed]] With The COVID-19 Pandemic And A Battered Economy, California Voters Said No To More Taxes

California voters rejected an ambitious state ballot initiative to substantially raise business property taxes. But they approved many local tax and bond measures. Why the distinction?

One reason is that voters are suspicious of Sacramento politicians. The public may not especially trust local officials either, but they’re closer and can be better watched and held accountable.

Another reason is that voters this year are very anxious about the economy as the pandemic takes a toll on businesses, jobs and retirement savings. They didn’t want to unleash a major new property tax hike that might further cripple the California economy.

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“People are not willing to give Sacramento a blank check,” says Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, a leading opponent of Proposition 15. “They are willing to support taxes on the local level. We were glad to see some of these local things pass because the communities needed funds, whether they were from parcel taxes or bonds.”

Read More [[link removed]] Data Shows California BEV At 6.7% New Vehicle Marketshare in Q3

The California Center for Jobs & The Economy has released an updated report (earlier post) on vehicle sales and the progress of ZEV sales in the state for Q3 2020. The report is based on sales data from the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA).

The data show total new light vehicle registrations in the third quarter were down 19.6% from the same period in the prior year, an improvement over the 48.9% drop in the second quarter but still lagging well behind the overall national decline of 8.4%.

In an indication of the disparate income effects of the ongoing reopening/shutdown cycle in the state, sales of the higher cost alternative fuel vehicles held up better as higher wage workers have been more able to retain their jobs and incomes through telecommuting, according to the California Center for Jobs & The Economy.

BEV (battery electric vehicles) registrations saw a slight increase from the 3rd quarter of 2019 (from 26,210 to 27,565 units), reaching a 6.7% market share in Q3 as registrations of traditional fuel vehicles were down more sharply. YTD 2020 new vehicle marketshare for full electrics is 6.1%, up from 5.1% in 2019, according to the CNCDA.

Read More [[link removed]] Business Climate and Job Creation Mnuchin Plans to Discuss ‘Targeted’ Aid Bill Friday With McConnell, Meadows, McCarthy

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday defended his decision not to extend funding for several Federal Reserve lending facilities, calling on Congress to reappropriate the nearly $500 billion to help small businesses and unemployed workers.

The Treasury Department’s announcement Thursday that it would allow the funding to expire after Dec. 31 prompted a rare statement of objection from the Fed, which wants to maintain the lending programs as a backstop in the face of the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

It also fueled speculation by some commentators that the Trump administration was attempting to constrain President-elect Joe Biden’s ability to respond to the economic fallout from the pandemic as Covid-19 cases surge in the U.S.

“We’re not trying to hinder anything,” Mr. Mnuchin said in an interview Friday on CNBC. “It was very clear that the congressional intent is [that the money] expires on December [31] of this year. It’s very clear in the law.”

Fed lawyers and several lawmakers involved in drafting the Cares Act, which allocated $454 billion to support direct lending by the central bank to broad swaths of the economy, have expressed disagreement with that view or suggested the Treasury could have asked Congress to approve a reauthorization.

Read More [[link removed]] Job Market Growth Slows Across U.S. As Covid-19 Cases Surge

The labor market is flashing signs of slowdown in states where coronavirus cases are surging—and in places where they are not.

The growth in the number of daily job postings in Midwestern states, where the virus is raging, is slowing sharply compared with October, according to data from the job site ZipRecruiter. But other states with among the lowest virus infection rates in the nation, including California, New York and North Carolina, are also seeing a slowdown.

The regional data suggest it is not the level of Covid-19 infections but how state officials, businesses and consumers respond to the pandemic that appears to have the greater impact on the pace of the labor market’s recovery in a state.

“The relationship between Covid cases and labor-market outcomes is complicated by the fact that it’s mediated by people’s individual decisions…and policy makers’ decisions,” said Julia Pollak, labor economist at ZipRecruiter.

Read More [[link removed]] China Borrows At Negative Rates For The First Time

Superlow interest rates in Europe helped China to sell its first negative-yielding debt, as it raised about $4.7 billion in a three-part deal in euros.

The debt sale drew robust demand, aided by China’s rapid return to economic growth after tackling the coronavirus and the relative scarcity of Chinese bonds denominated in the common currency.

The deal was worth €4 billion, the equivalent of $4.74 billion, and split between 5-, 10- and 15-year bonds. The 5-year bonds were priced late Wednesday to yield minus 0.152%, while the 10- and 15-year securities were sold with positive yields of 0.318% and 0.664%, respectively.

This is the first time that China has sold negative-yielding debt, according to Dealogic.

Investors placed total orders of about €18 billion, said Samuel Fischer, head of China onshore debt capital markets at Deutsche Bank, one of the banks that handled the deal.

Read More [[link removed]] Wall Street Slips Amid Worries About Worsening Pandemic

U.S. stocks are pulling a bit lower in afternoon trading Friday as worries about the worsening pandemic undercut growing optimism about a coming coronavirus vaccine.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2%, as of 2:30 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 132 points, or 0.5%, at 29,349, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. Treasury yields were holding steady, while stock markets around the world made only modest moves.

Wall Street has suddenly begun to teeter-totter this week after a big November rally swept both the S&P 500 and Dow to record highs. Evidence is piling up for investors both for hope about the economy’s prospects next year and for fear about the damage accruing in the shorter term. The S&P 500 is on track for a 0.3% dip this week, on the heels of a 7.3% weekly surge followed by a 2.2% climb.

“It’s a market concerned about growth,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. “That’s the big uncertainty.”

Read More [[link removed]] How Bank Of America Helped Fuel California's Unemployment Meltdown

For a brief moment this summer, Stephanie Moore thought she might finally see a glimmer of hope at the end of the coronavirus recession. Unemployment benefits provided a lifeline for the 38-year-old Los Angeles housekeeper to leave a bad relationship and rent an Airbnb while she looked for a job. But in early October, her state-issued Bank of America debit card balance plummeted from around $400 to negative $1,100 after a credit for fraudulent charges from months earlier was reversed without warning.

So began her unofficial full-time job trying to get the money back.

“It’s kind of like a nightmare,” Moore said. “Every day I’m wondering what’s more important. Do I get on the phone with the bank and try again so I have a place to sleep tomorrow, or do I just accept that I’m going to be on the street and focus on my job search? Because you can’t do both.”

For months, California’s Employment Development Department has attracted the ire of jobless workers and state lawmakers for a backlog of unpaid unemployment claims that peaked at 1.6 million. Now, Moore is among those entangled by potential security lapses and payment errors involving Bank of America, which since 2010 has had an exclusive contract to deliver state unemployment benefits through prepaid debit cards.

Read More [[link removed]] 750,000 Californians Projected To Lose Unemployment Benefits Next Month

Unless Congress acts soon, an estimated 750,000 Californians will lose their unemployment benefits next month, putting severe financial strain on thousands of households and potentially undermining the state's already fragile economic recovery.

That estimate comes from a new report released today by researchers with the California Policy Lab.

UCLA economist Till von Wachter, one of the authors, said these benefits have so far played a crucial role in propping up California's economy at a time of record-breaking unemployment. Phasing them out could lead to widespread damage.

"These benefits will be needed to pay for rent and necessities," von Wachter said. "We are looking at a large number of people who might be really hurting, and that is likely to hurt the overall economy as well."

Read More [[link removed]] State Mandates Emergency Workplace COVID-19 Protections, Less Crowding For Guest Farmworkers

California’s businesses must follow new rules to protect workers from getting coronavirus on the job, while harvesting companies must minimize overcrowding in guest farmworker housing following a California Divide investigation that uncovered rampant coronavirus outbreaks this summer among a low-wage workforce putting fresh produce on America’s kitchen table.

The rulemaking body for the state’s workplace safety agency voted unanimously today to approve the requirements as part of a broader package of protections aimed at protecting millions of workers from getting coronavirus on the job. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s emergency standard is expected to take effect within 10 days and may be extended for up to 14 months.

Citing a joint investigation by CalMatters and The Salinas Californian for the California Divide that uncovered outbreaks among farmworkers brought from other countries, housed in crowded motel rooms and bussed to and from work by the dozen, Cal/OSHA wrote “there has been an overrepresentation of migrant temporary farmworkers testing positive for COVID-19.” Under the new standards, workers must be housed in disinfected rooms with beds spaced six feet apart and sit at least three feet apart when transported to farm fields. Employers must do their best to keep workers in stable pods who sleep, bus and work together to minimize outbreaks.

Read More [[link removed]] Not Dire, For Now: California Expects $26 Billion Windfall Despite Pandemic

The good news: The recession California officials predicted in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic has not been as dire as they thought it would be, leaving the state with a $26 billion windfall heading into the next fiscal year.

The bad news: A reason for the unanticipated cash reveals the state’s stark economic divide. Pandemic-induced job losses have been concentrated among low-wage workers, who pay relatively little taxes to begin with, while wealthy residents have continued to make money and pay taxes, leading to much greater tax collections than officials predicted in early summer.

“We’re ending up in a place where the overall fiscal picture of the state doesn’t look nearly as bleak as the conditions for the people who are weathering the pandemic and all of its negative effects,” said Chris Hoene, executive director of the California Budget and Policy Center.

“It’s a very weird situation.”

Read More [[link removed]] 'Opportunity Of The Century': Coronavirus Pandemic Underscores Need To Shift Desert Economy

The Coachella Valley's dependence on tourism intensified the economic earthquakes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. And to Coachella Valley Economic Partnership President and CEO Joe Wallace, this presents a chance to revamp the desert economy.

This, he said, is a time for boldness and vision.

"It is imperative for the Coachella Valley to come out of this crisis better and more sustainable than we were last February," he said. "The virus of the century is the opportunity of the century."

The 16th Annual Greater Palm Springs Summit organized by CVEP held Thursday was virtual this year, minus the buffet-style breakfast and hundreds of handshakes that would typically take place at the region's premier economic forecast.

And while last year focused on demographic trends and a few bright spots for economic growth in the Coachella Valley, this year centered on the myriad ways the coronavirus pandemic took a hammer to the local economy, and what may be involved in the long, hard process of rebuilding.

Read More [[link removed]] Energy and Climate Change Well Water Throughout California Contaminated With 'Forever Chemicals'

In the weeks before the coronavirus began tearing through California, the city of Commerce made an expensive decision: It shut down part of its water supply.

Like nearly 150 other public water systems in California, the small city on the outskirts of Los Angeles had detected “forever chemicals” in its well water.

Used for decades to make non-stick and waterproof coatings, firefighting foams and food packaging, these industrial chemicals — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS — have been linked to kidney cancer and other serious health conditions.

The chemicals turned up in both of the city’s wells serving about 3,000 residents. One well already had treatment capable of reducing the chemicals, but the other did not, according to the California Water Service, which operates the wells.

The discovery forced Commerce to choose between two bad options: keep serving the contaminated water, or shut the well down and import water at more than double the cost.

Flush with funds from taxing the city’s casino and outlet mall, officials decided to err on the side of caution and shut the well down.

Read More [[link removed]] Biden’s ‘Nightmare’ Climate Advisor Is Connected To Energy Transition Team Members

President-elect Joe Biden has signalled his intent to make climate change a signature effort of his upcoming administration. However, while Biden has been lauded for this, concerns remain about the degree to which he is willing to challenge the power of the fossil fuel industry.

Environmental activists’ concerns about Biden’s approach to climate change are in many ways personified in one figure: Ernest Moniz.

Moniz was Secretary of Energy in Obama’s administration from 2013 through 2017 and played a critical role in generating support for fracked gas as a “bridge fuel” and in launching the liquefied natural gas export regime that proliferated under Obama. He is currently a director of Southern Company, the second-highest carbon-polluting energy utility in the United States.

During the 2020 presidential election, Moniz was reported to be an informal advisor to Biden’s campaign. Biden’s initial climate plan received an “F-” grade from the youth-led Sunrise Movement in 2019, though he was pushed by activists to call for more significant climate action later in his campaign. Still, in the final weeks before election day, Biden unequivocally rejected calls to ban fracking, and declared support for investing in technologies to capture and store carbon emitted by burning fossil fuels as a key component of his agenda.

Read More [[link removed]] Biden Can Make Historic Strides On Climate After Four Years Of Trump Vandalism

“I’m just exhausted,” Jared Blumenfeld told me. “It’s been four years of just worrying about the next rule that’s going to help polluters and undermine public health. I’m just excited to not have to think about that anymore.”

As head of the California Environmental Protection Agency, Blumenfeld has been on the front lines of the effort to fight back against Trump administration efforts to roll back environmental laws and regulations.

The state participated in more than 60 lawsuits, often with coalitions of other blue states, to block those changes, most importantly to protect its authority to set its own auto emissions standards.

The state also cut its own deal with six auto manufacturers to align the carmakers with California’s stringent standards.

The tide of contention between the state and the federal government is about to recede.

Read More [[link removed]] Boiling Point: Los Angeles Can Restrict Oil And Gas Drilling With Buffer Zones, City Attorney Says

Local government meetings can be dry, drawn-out affairs even during non-pandemic times. Nowadays they typically involve sitting at home and straining to hear a crackly audio feed, or watching a grainy video if you’re lucky.

Still, I wasn’t going to miss this week’s meeting of the Los Angeles City Council’s Energy, Climate Change and Environmental Justice Committee.

There were two items on the agenda that caught my attention: one about shutting down a gas-fired power plant in a low-income community of color, and one dealing with public-health buffer zones around oil and gas wells.

Both items offered illuminating windows into critical decisions California and the rest of the country must face as the climate crisis worsens. So I settled into my mediocre office chair, turned my computer volume to the max and got ready to take notes.

Here’s a rundown of what was discussed, why it matters and what might happen next.

A war of words over oil wells

The meeting started with public comment, and all 28 commenters wanted to weigh in on the same topic: A proposal to require buffer zones, or “setbacks,” between oil and gas wells and homes, schools and hospitals.

Read More [[link removed]] CALSSA Calls For Ten Legislative Actions To Drive Solar + Storage Growth in California

The California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA) released a new report “Shovel Ready for Recovery: A Blueprint for Jobs and Economic Recovery Through Local Solar and Storage Investments,” highlighting the job creation, clean energy and energy resiliency benefits from local solar and storage investments as outlined in CALSSA’s ten-point plan of action.

California’s local solar and storage industry is helping the state move to clean, renewable energy while also helping keep the lights on for everyday consumers and businesses. Today one million solar systems located at schools, farms, businesses, homes, and low-income apartment buildings throughout California produce nearly 13 billion kWh of clean energy each year, avoiding 5 million metric tons of CO2 annually. Attached to a growing number of these solar systems are more than 30,000 energy storage systems connected to the grid and providing 1 million kWh of storage capacity. Local solar and energy storage projects are job intensive.

The industry sustains tens of thousands of local jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity within the state. Sixty full-time jobs are supported by every megawatt of local solar energy built, and California built 1,200 MW of local solar in 2019.

“As California looks for ways to bounce back economically from the COVID-19 pandemic, solar energy can boost jobs, lower customers’ utility bills, and help make the grid more resilient to wildfires and other extreme weather events,” said Ethan Elkind, director of the climate program at the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment at University of California, Berkeley. “The fuel from the sun is free and clean, so the upfront costs means more jobs and less pollution.”

Read More [[link removed]] Jeff Bezos Launches His Own Climate Action Push As U.S. Policy Faces Potential Gridlock

Bezos haters gonna hate. It goes with the territory when you’re the world’s richest person in a time of Digital Gilded Age inequality.

But this week, through his Bezos Earth Fund, he also became the biggest private supporter of climate action.

The $10 billion fund gave out its first round of grants, $791 million to 16 environmental organizations. The grants will finance research and implementation of efforts to reduce carbon emissions that are generating human-caused climate change, as well as adding green jobs and restoring wildlife.

Bill Gates, the planet’s second richest person, has written regularly on climate and constructive responses to our existential crisis on his Gates Notes blog. And this year the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the world’s largest private foundations, added climate change to its priorities.

But on the individual funding level, the Amazon founder is the leader.

Not surprisingly, the move also brought criticism.

Read More [[link removed]] Workforce Development Amid Pandemic Fears Of Student Loss, University Of California Enrollment Remains Flat

Enrollment across the University of California is expected to remain flat this fall, with a small increase in undergraduates — encouraging signs for the system amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which has resulted in most public universities across the country losing students.

The enrollment update is one of the few bright spots in the current condition of the university’s budget, which was presented Thursday to the system’s Board of Regents. The 10-campus system has faced significant revenue losses during the pandemic, leading UC to seek increased aid in the 2021-22 state budget to make up for most of it. But very little of those losses are attributable to changes in enrollment.

The state’s other four-year public university system, the California State University, has also bucked national enrollment trends and has seen enrollment gains at more than half of its 23 campuses. The same cannot be said for the third public college segment in the state, California’s 116 community college system. That system is suffering enrollment declines of up to 20% at some colleges, according to early estimates.

Read More [[link removed]] Disappointing Grades, Technology Glitches And Glimpses Of Learning Fun

Seven months after school campuses closed, Mayra Guzman, a parent in Fresno County, summed it up for just about everyone: “I feel miserable.”

While some students have acclimated to distance learning and even thrived, most in EdSource’s project following California families on how they are coping with Covid-19, are still struggling with spotty internet access, technical glitches and the frustration of not seeing friends and teachers in person. Concerns with distance learning track a recent EdSource poll in which 75% of registered California voters, including parents, say that distance learning is worse than in class instruction.

And as progress reports trickle in, the evidence is clear: many students are struggling academically. Some students who usually get As and Bs are now facing Ds and Fs, and fear they’ll never catch up.

Parents are doing what they can, but most are juggling multiple roles — helping children, troubleshooting computer problems, working their own jobs and trying to keep the household running. For those with limited English skills, the challenges are even more daunting.

Read More [[link removed]] Infrastructure and Housing Will Prop. 19 Substantially Increase Home Inventory In California?

California voters narrowly approved Proposition 19, allowing older homeowners to bring tax benefits with them if they move.

The change will mean people 55 and older will be able to blend the taxable value of their old home with the value of a new, more expensive home they purchase.

Supporters of Prop. 19 argued the measure would help empty-nesters and those wanting to move for health reasons to find new homes without facing a big tax hit.

Advocates of the legislation have argued it will motivate older buyers to move out of bigger houses and open up space for younger families to buy homes.

Read More [[link removed]] California Needs More Homes Built. Google And Facebook Are Betting On This Modular Housing Startup

Vallejo modular housing startup Factory_OS has raised $55 million from tech giants Google and Facebook, the software firm Autodesk, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and asset manager Lafayette Square Holding.

The money will enable Factory_OS to increase production at its second Mare Island factory and expand to Los Angeles, the company said Friday. It cuts the cost of housing construction by pre-assembling “modules” of apartment buildings and shipping them to project sites. Factory_OS previously raised $22.7 million last year.

The company, which has completed almost 1,000 housing units in Northern California, said its costs are 20% to 40% lower than those of traditional construction. It seeks to revolutionize development, which has relied on the same techniques for decades. San Francisco had the highest construction costs in the world last year, according to consulting firm Turner & Townsend. Factory_OS CEO Rick Holliday said each non-modular apartment can cost upwards of $750,000 to build.

Read More [[link removed]] Audit Slams California For Mismanaging Housing Crisis, Wasting Billions In Bonds

A damning new audit blames California’s abiding inability to fix its housing crisis on a mix of incompetent state officials and myriad local barriers—from parking minimums and zoning restrictions to litigious residents.

In a report released earlier this week, State Auditor Elaine Howle cites a particularly egregious instance in which one agency squandered $2.7 billion in bonds that could have funded thousands of below-market-rate homes.

That the glaring misstep not only happened, but went unnoticed until Howle’s team uncovered the mess points to a broader lack of oversight.

The audit describes how the state’s disjointed process for financing affordable housing—defined as financially feasible for families that make less than 80 percent of an area’s median income—slows development and drives up costs.

Read More [[link removed]] The Pandemic Isn’t Killing Cities. Housing Regulations Are

In the wake of COVID-19, preliminary data suggest few Americans are actually fleeing cities. This means that housing shortages are not going away in America’s most in-demand metros, pushing up prices in places like Austin and preventing cities such as New York from becoming more affordable. And it means that our communities need to make it easier for Americans to find or build homes lest a deadly health crisis worsen our already dire housing crisis.

Today’s urban crisis is really a tale of two cities: New York and San Francisco. Moving requests from New Yorkers using United Van Lines were 52 percent higher than the national average in September and 128 percent above the national rate in San Francisco, more than in any other major metro area across the United States. Both cities this summer saw an 80 percent jump in moving activity on Hire A Helper from March to June. Unsurprisingly, the number of for-sale signs jumped this September by 51 percent in San Francisco and 20 percent in New York City year-on-year. Zillow Research found that aside from those two cities, “suburban housing markets have not strengthened at a disproportionately rapid pace compared to urban markets.”

Read More [[link removed]] Vacant Homes Occupied By L.A. Families To Become Transitional Housing

A group of families who moved into vacant homes in the Los Angeles neighborhood of El Sereno at the beginning of the pandemic will be allowed to stay there legally while they search for permanent housing, according to a report in LAist. The group “Reclaiming Our Homes” took over a series of homes owned by CalTrans, the California Department of Transportation, according to the report. The homes were among more than 450 properties acquired by CalTrans decades ago as part of a since-abandoned plan to expand the interstate 710 freeway, the report says. Under a new agreement, CalTrans will lease some of the homes to the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) for at least three years for use as transitional housing, according to the story. Residents said that their decision to occupy 13 of the vacant homes was driven partly by the COVID-19 pandemic, and L.A.’s “Safer at Home” guidelines, the story says.

“I want to emphasize that housing is a health issue, and we are having a health crisis right now in this pandemic,” said Marta Escudero, who moved into one of the vacant properties with her daughters back in March, according to the report. “We need to act faster to occupy all of these vacant homes.”

The “reclaimer” families will need to go through eligibility screenings and background checks, and will be provided with services to help them find permanent housing, according to the report. HACLA may rotate new residents into the homes if some of the current residents are able to find permanent housing, the report says. But the “Reclaiming Our Homes” group is asking for the homes to be used for permanent housing and put into a community land trust, according to the story.

Read More [[link removed]] Editorial and Opinion Prop. 15 Isn't California's Last Opportunity To Restore Our Social Contract

Californians faced the largest wildfires in our history this fall, and we desperately needed bold action to stabilize our communities, schools and climate. But corporate special interests spent nearly $75 million to mislead voters into protecting their profits by opposing Proposition 15. The measure ultimately failed with a 51.7% no vote.

The result is billions of dollars of new revenue lost to local budgets and school districts. This comes on top of the decades of austerity budgets, which have meant deep cuts to public health services, fire departments and the social safety net. Meanwhile big businesses have seen profits and executive pay skyrocket.

This fall, as short-staffed fire crews struggled to contain the blazes set by lightning storms and fueled by climate change, 4.1 million acres burned and 10,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed while less than 25% of adults in fire-prone counties were receiving county emergency alerts. That’s where Prop. 15 would come in. The initiative would have brought an estimated $12 billion a year into our cash-strapped cities, counties and schools by closing a loophole that allows California’s richest corporations to pay lower property tax rates than homeowners.

Read More [[link removed]] Our Future Rests On Climate Action

California is on fire. And the wildfires we’ve seen already this year are not just alarming – they’re a forewarning. In 2020 alone, record temperatures and tens of thousands of dry lightning strikes led our state to experience five of its six largest wildfires in recorded history.

Further, President Donald Trump’s denial and deregulatory actions accelerated the damage. This administration’s myopic “America alone” approach weakened critical alliances with other democracies and our nation’s ability to lead the world in fostering the growth of promising clean energy. And this is while countries like China seek to embarrass us while making bold promises to tackle climate change.

Quite frankly, our country is running out of time before the damage becomes irreversible, and extreme weather is not a seasonal rarity, but the norm.

Where the federal government fell short, California has stepped in. Driven by what science has told us about climate change, we led the charge for states and cities across the country to fulfill the U.S. commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement, and we were a founding signatory of the Under2 Coalition committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Read More [[link removed]] Why California Cities' Ban On Natural Gas Is A Terrible Idea

A ban can affect directly either supply or consumption of a product such as natural gas. Attempts to curtail gas supply have met with partial success: for example, methane rules, drilling restrictions on public lands, opposition to new pipelines.

The ban receiving the most recent attention focuses on end-use consumption in municipal jurisdictions, which believe they have the legal authority to do so. Berkeley initiated municipal efforts, in July 2019, to electrify their building sectors by prohibiting natural gas in new buildings. Since then, dozens of cities in other jurisdictions, largely in California, and most conspicuously San Francisco, have sought to restrict the use of gas in new buildings. Some cities have even considered banning or restricting natural gas appliances from existing homes and businesses, as well. The major purpose of these efforts is to mitigate climate change by making buildings zero carbon.

A ban is much more drastic than just creating a tax to discourage consumption of a product. With a tax, the decision is still left to consumers on how much of a product to purchase. A tax can counter an externality unaccounted for in the decisions of either suppliers or consumers, such as pollution or second-hand smoke.

Read More [[link removed]] California's Housing Woes Go Far Beyond Key Findings In New Audit

State Auditor Elaine Howle — the chronic chronicler of Sacramento’s incompetence — has issued a new report showing the failure of subsidized housing programs to reduce the state’s housing crisis.

Much of the audit deals with poor oversight of state and local programs aimed at helping lower-income households and how a lack of clear standards discouraged developers from working with governments. Initial coverage focused on the fact that under then-state Treasurer John Chiang, the state spent only $800 million of $3.5 billion in authorized tax-exempt bonds to finance subsidized housing by a 2017 federal deadline. This will fuel outrage among the many Democrats who believe that subsidized housing is how to respond to a shortage of housing that has made shelter so expensive that California has the highest poverty rate in the nation.

But the report can also be seen as one more example of a huge problem cited in a 2003 Public Policy Institute of California report: the state’s constant focus on process questions related to costly “affordable housing” projects rather than on the key fact that not nearly enough new housing is being built.

Read More [[link removed]] Amazon Shakes Up Health Care

Amazon has driven innovation and competition across the retail industry from supermarkets to books. Now it’s gunning for pharmacies, which could force healthy changes across America’s sclerotic health-care system.

On Tuesday the retail and cloud-computing giant announced it is launching an online pharmacy that will deliver common medications, including insulin and asthma inhalers, with free two-day shipping for its Prime members. The move was facilitated by its purchase two years ago of PillPack, the online pharmacy startup that sorts, packages and delivers medication.

PillPack came with licenses to operate in 49 states, as well as technology and logistical infrastructure that Amazon has further developed. Amazon’s success in the highly regulated prescription drug market is by no means guaranteed. But its entrance has made muscular incumbents take notice and raise their game. CVS and Walgreens now offer fast and free prescription drug delivery.

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