Web Version [link removed] | Update Preferences [link removed] CBRT in the News THE BUZZ: FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: THROWDOWN IN THE PROP 13 BATTLE

It’s on: California business leaders Monday are kicking off a statewide effort to defend the landmark 1978 property tax measure Prop. 13 from an already-qualified 2020 “split roll” ballot measure that aims to revise it.

The California Business Roundtable has launched FightforProp13.org, a campaign that executive director Rob Lapsley tells POLITICO will begin this week with direct mail targeted at Los Angeles voters — but soon expand statewide.

With 40 years having passed since the Howard Jarvis-fueled property tax revolution — and amid a new generation of voters whom polls show may be are increasingly hostile to it — “we see that there’s a glaring need for re-education around Prop. 13,’’ Lapsley said.

“The Roundtable has been fighting on all fronts to deal with taxpayer and business protections when it comes to taxes … and we are under assault in the face of a $21 billion surplus,’’ and $20 billion in general fund reserves, he said in an interview this week. “We need to stand up and fight for what protections we have left — and we’ve engaged from both a fundraising and a messaging standpoint.”

Read More [[link removed]] Business Climate and Job Creation Economy Healthy, No Recession Looming For California, Economists Say

When they presented the California Association of Realtors 2019 Mid-Year Market Forecast this month, C.A.R. senior vice president and chief economist Leslie Appleton-Young and deputy chief economist Jordan Levine announced as of July, the U.S. was officially 10 years into its economic recovery period.

The country has experienced the longest period of economic expansion on record.

The economy is healthy, with GDP reaching 3.1 percent in the first quarter of this year. Unemployment was at 3.7 percent in June — the lowest in 55 years, and job growth was at 1.5 percent. Consumer confidence has remained elevated. Interest rates are at an all-time low, hitting 3.75 percent in June. There is speculation that interest rates may be lowered even more.

Read More [[link removed]] Just Half Of Californians Believe They Can Afford To Live Here, Poll Finds

Who can afford to live in California?

A newly released Quinnipiac University poll found that just slightly more than half, or 53 percent, of Californians believe they can afford to live in the Golden State.

Surveyors spoke to 1,125 California voters between July 10-15, with a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.

Pollsters found that the perception of California as unaffordable was especially high among people 18 to 34, at 58 percent, and 35 to 49, at 53 percent.

By contrast, 58 percent of people 50 to 64 believe the state is affordable. Those 65 and older, at 68 percent, were most likely to say the state’s cost of living is reasonable.

Most Californians, 78 percent, believe the state has a housing crisis. That number includes both renters and homeowners.

Read More [[link removed]?] SF Office Space Is Expensive. A Ballot Proposal Will Make It Worse, Critics Say

San Francisco would restrict future office development if the city fails to meet its affordable housing goals under a proposed ballot measure.

The measure would reduce the amount of office space allowed by a percentage equal to the city’s shortfall in approving affordable housing, based on state-mandated goals.

The advocacy arm of South of Market nonprofit and affordable housing manager Todco is sponsoring the measure with the hopes of getting it on the March primary ballot.

John Elberling, executive director of Todco, said less space for new jobs would reduce housing demand and aid low-income residents who are struggling in a city with a median home price of $1.7 million.

Read More [[link removed]] California’s Child Poverty Hits Coastal Bay Area

hen Michele Beserra looks at her 3-year-old granddaughter, she sees a warm, loving girl with light brown curls and a nurturing instinct—the kind of person she hopes will become a nurse or a community advocate.

But the 56-year-old Beserra becomes emotional when she thinks about her granddaughter’s new home: a tent on a plot of land in Watsonville, where the family will move this month because they can’t afford to rent anymore on her $400-a-month income. With her daughter and granddaughter, Beserra and her husband, who has been out of work for two years, plan to cook on a camp stove and bathe outdoors in a plastic pool on a ranch owned by a relative.

“We have stuff like we’re going camping. So that’s what we tell my beautiful little granddaughter when she asks us: ‘Nana, why do we have to move? Why?’” Beserra said, her voice cracking. “Because, I go, ‘we’re gonna go camping!’ It just breaks your heart when she asks why.”

Read More [[link removed]] Oil Price Rises On Mideast Tensions, Stock Markets Cautious

The price of oil rose on Friday after the U.S. said it had destroyed an Iranian drone near the Persian Gulf, where a lot of the world's oil is shipped through. Stock markets were largely stable as investors monitor earnings and the ongoing trade talks between China and the U.S.

Energy prices were ratcheted higher after U.S. President Donald said a U.S. warship had downed an Iranian drone that had been threatening. While Iran denied the incident, it's the latest incident to increase tensions and uncertainty in the region, where oil tankers have been attacked or threatened.

About 20% of all oil traded worldwide passes through the Persian Gulf, so investors are aware of the potential for disruptions to ship traffic.

The U.S. benchmark for crude oil advanced 71 cents, or 1.3%, to $56.01 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the international oil standard, picked up 98 cents, or 1.6%, to $62.91 per barrel.

Read More [[link removed]] House Approves Bill That Would More Than Double Minimum Wage To $15

The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would more than double the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025.

The bill, which passed by a 231-199 margin, was sponsored by Rep. Bobby Scott (D., Va.) and was a compromise that progressive Democrats struck with more centrist members of the party. It is unlikely to see a vote in the Senate, and the White House has signaled its opposition.

A study on the bill’s initial effects by the Congressional Budget Office report released this month showed that raising the federal wage floor to $15 by 2025 had the potential to lift 1.3 million people out of poverty, and increase pay for 17 million workers. But the study also showed such an increase could lead to 1.3 million people losing their jobs.

Read More [[link removed]] As Airbnb Prepares For Wall Street Scrutiny, Its Hometown Is A Key Case Study

Airbnb, long a flash point for controversy in its hometown, has achieved detente with San Francisco at the cost of slower growth — while pursuing other expansions that could stir new issues.

San Francisco is not alone in reining in Airbnb. Cities from South Lake Tahoe to New York to Paris are cracking down on short-term rentals, concerned about housing availability and neighborhood impact.

As one of the world’s most valuable venture-backed companies prepares for an initial public offering valuing it in the tens of billions of dollars — more than any hotel chain — how fast Airbnb can grow as regulations tighten is a key question. Though San Francisco is a small part of Airbnb’s business, it is the company’s oldest market and a key laboratory for change.

Read More [[link removed]] Energy and Climate Change Berkeley Is the First City In America To Ban Gas From New Homes

The fight to kick natural gas out of homes and businesses is intensifying.

In a vote late Tuesday, Berkeley -- the city near San Francisco long known for its progressive politics -- banned the use of the heating fuel in most new buildings. Environmentalists are hailing it as the first city to enact such a prohibition, opening up a new front in the battle against global warming.

The move comes as lawmakers and environmental groups from the U.K. to the Netherlands to New York are trying to kick natural gas -- once seen as a “bridge fuel” to a low-carbon future -- out of the home heating and cooking business. In California alone, more than 50 cities are considering banning the fuel’s use in all new construction, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Read More [[link removed]] Hostile Takeover Of PG&E? Billion-Dollar Hedge Funds Duel Over Bankrupt Utility

Two groups of multibillion-dollar hedge funds are fighting over control of PG&E Corp. in a battle with huge implications for California’s largest electric utility and the thousands of wildfire victims who hold claims against the bankrupt company.

What had been a quiet tug-of-war turned into a hostile takeover battle late Wednesday. PG&E’s major bondholders, in a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, said they’re seeking to buy 85 percent of the utility’s stock for $19 billion. The effort is part of a larger reorganization proposal that would include paying billions to victims of the 2017 and 2018 wildfires.

“They want to own the company essentially,” said Michael Wara, director of Stanford University’s Climate and Energy Policy Program and an advisor to the state Senate on wildfire issues.

Read More [[link removed]] Workforce Development Higher Education Facilities Bond Act Of 2020

California lawmakers are considering whether to place an $8 billion general obligation bond measure on the March 2020 ballot. If approved by voters, the measure would let the University of California and the California State University system improve the seismic safety of their buildings and expand their physical capacity to serve thousands more California students. As this measure has attracted a significant amount of attention inside and outside the University, this website is designed to provide information for the University community.

Senate Bill 14, The Higher Education Facilities Bond Act of 2020, was authored by State Senators Steve Glazer and Ben Allen and Assembly members Jesse Gabriel and Jose Medina to help UC and CSU address major backlogs in deferred maintenance and accommodate greater student enrollment.

Read More [[link removed]] Educators Learn Early Results Of Gates Initiative To Improve Student Outcomes

It’s been almost two years since Bill Gates announced a major shift to locally driven solutions in the education funding strategy of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the nation’s largest charitable foundation.

Gates said he remains “driven by the same guiding principle we started with: all students — but especially low-income students and students of color — must have equal access to a great public education that prepares them for adulthood.”

As Gates vowed in the speech to the Council of the Great City Schools in Cleveland, “We will not give up until this has been achieved.”

The result is a first round of funding totaling $93 million from the foundation to 21 local Networks for School Improvement committed to continuous improvement and uncovering changes that will make a difference for these students.

Read More [[link removed]] Infrastructure At Home At BART

The average BART rider may not know the term “transit-oriented development,” but when trains enter Oakland’s MacArthur Station, they see it face-to-face.

A seven-story building with lime-green accents covers land that five years ago held parking lots. It’s part of a 385-unit apartment complex being marketed as “sleek and modern with a retro vibe ... perfect for your life on the go.” A few yards away, workers have nearly completed the concrete frame for a 24-story apartment tower that will open next spring.

MacArthur’s transformation isn’t an isolated event. Construction is under way or recently completed at seven other East Bay BART stations, and projects at three others could break ground within the next year. Cities across the system are putting plans in place to allow bigger buildings near BART.

Read More [[link removed]] California’s Housing Shortage Is Somewhere Between 2.5 Million … And Zero

California’s housing shortage is nowhere as big as you think.

In an age where statistics can be weaponized, pro-development types will toss out the biggest shortfall guestimate they can find to make their point: Only more construction will prune California’s high cost-of-living.

Conversely, those who prefer slower growth will quote more modest shortage estimates — or even deny there’s any shortfall — to suggest reasons why we shouldn’t rush to boost new homebuilding.

Of course, there’s an alternative universe: Reality.

These shortfall guestimates are very much “it depends on who you ask.” And this mathematical debate is largely a question of which benchmark is used to measure against the state’s home supply, its homebuilding history, its population and economic growth.

Read More [[link removed]] Editorial and Opinion California Refuses To Enlist Clean, Cheap Hydropower In Fight Against Climate Change. It Makes No Sense

Is the cleanest, greenest electricity in the world green enough for California?

For years, the people of the Northern San Joaquin Valley have been trying to get hydropower recognized for what it is: the original source of clean electricity. Our efforts have been stymied by people who feel entitled to decide what is, or isn’t, green enough.

That’s why I have begun the process of modifying our state Constitution to recognize safe, abundant, carbon-free hydropower as a reliable source of renewable energy in our fight against climate change.

I have authored Assembly Constitutional Amendment 17 to place this question before California’s voters. We’ve also begun the process of qualifying a ballot measure if the Legislature fails to act on ACA17.

Read More [[link removed]] Are Scooters A Transit Solution Or A Trojan Horse For Big Tech To Colonize Our Public Spaces?

Summer is here and the electronic hum of scooters is filling city sidewalks all over the world. From L.A. to D.C., many American downtowns have hit their one-year anniversary with scooters, and European capitals have begun to allow them.

The benefit is obvious: Scooters provide on-demand, affordable mobility to any able-bodied smartphone user. As the vehicle’s fan base grows, however, so do the frustrations that provoke other urbanites to detest them — abandoned scooters left on walkways and even scooter-pedestrian collisions. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo says escalating tensions are leading to “anarchy” on her city’s boulevards and footpaths. And an even bigger issue looms over arguments for and against this revamped child’s toy. Scooters may well be the Trojan Horse with which big tech colonizes the world’s public space.

Scooters (and dockless e-bikes) inhabit cities like few other consumer products ever have. Through location-tracking and app-based transactions, scooter barons oversee their business from a distance while storing their entire inventories on our streets and sidewalks for next to nothing. When in use, scooters generate revenue for Bird, Lime or some other “micro-mobility” company. When not in use, they just sit there, wherever there happens to be: a bike lane, a doorway, a neighbor’s front yard. Citizens have no lawful recourse, leading some to resort to micro-vandalism.

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]