23May

May 23, 2017

Political Stories Top stories   The price on universal health care is in, and it’s bigger than California’s budget — It would cost $400 billion per year to remake California’s health insurance marketplace and create a publicly funded universal heath care system, according to a state financial analysis released Monday. Sacramento Bee article; Sacramento Bee editorial; LA […]

15May

May 15, 2017

Political Stories Top stories   High court could soon signal view on Trump immigration plans – Supreme Court decisions in a half-dozen cases dealing with immigration over the next two months could reveal how the justices might evaluate Trump administration actions on immigration, especially stepped up deportations. Some of those cases could be decided as […]

27Apr

April 27, 2017

Political Stories Top stories   Fresno State survey: Nearly half of Valley adults worry about deportations for family or friends — Nearly half of adults in the central San Joaquin Valley say they are worried a family member or close friend could be deported by immigration officers, according to survey findings released Wednesday by Fresno State’s Institute for […]

24Apr

April 24, 2017

Political Stories Top stories   Dan Walters: It’s time to abolish California’s dysfunctional tax board — The Board of Equalization’s rationale for being expired decades ago, and the recent revelations just underscore that to the larger public. It’s time for it to vanish. Walters column in Sacramento Bee   George Skelton: It’s time for California […]

13Apr

April 13, 2017

Political Stories – Top stories A ‘sanctuary state’ bill is raising heated debate among California lawmakers.  Here’s how it would work — The proposal, known as the “sanctuary state” bill, was sparked by the Trump administration’s broadened deportation orders. It would expand so-called sanctuary city policies, prohibiting state and local law enforcement agencies, including school police and security departments, […]

07Apr

April 7, 2017

Political Stories Top stories   Gas-tax increase to pay for road repairs clears Legislature — The state Legislature on Thursday passed a sweeping $52 billion transportation plan that will raise California gas taxes after leaders struck deals with wavering lawmakers to fund road projects in their districts. Sacramento Bee article; LA Times article; San Francisco […]

06Apr

April 6, 2017

Political Stories Top stories   Your gas costs – and pothole repair – depend on Jerry Brown’s political skills — As a young governor, Jerry Brown pilloried Proposition 13 as a “fraud” and a “rip off,” and aligned himself against what became the landmark 1978 measure by Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann to cut property […]

05Apr

April 5, 2017

Political Stories Top stories   Dan Walters: Will your income taxes in California go up under Trump? — This year, Californians – particularly affluent Californians – will deduct at least $100 billion in state and local taxes, primarily income taxes, from their federally taxable incomes, thus saving them at least $20 billion. Eliminating the deduction, […]