Tim Anaya
Blog
Newsom’s May Revise Places Big Spending Bet That the Good Times Will Continue to Roll
On Friday, Gov. Newsom unveiled the “May Revise” to his 2021-22 state budget plan, proposing a record $196.8 billion in General Fund spending and $267.8 billion in total spending. Saying that the budget doesn’t “play small ball,” Newsom presented what he called a “generational budget” and “a historic, transformational budget.” ...
Tim Anaya
May 17, 2021
Blog
California Poised for Massive State Budget Spending Increases
Viewers of President Biden’s speech to Congress last week may have been struck by size of the trillions in new federal spending the President outlined in his speech. In advance of the President’s speech, Democrats in the California Legislature had a message for Washington – hold my beer! Assembly and ...
Tim Anaya
May 3, 2021
Blog
CEQA Strikes Again in Holding Up Major Homebuilding Project
Recently, the Southern California Association of Governments voted on new housing development goals for the region for the coming decade. Its vote requires cities and counties to make plans to zone for up to 1.34 million new homes by the end of the decade. The need to build additional new ...
Tim Anaya
April 22, 2021
Blog
New Caltrans Report Latest Reminders That Sacramento Continues to Shortchange Congestion Relief
Caltrans last week released a draft of its 2021 “State Highway System Maintenance Plan,” which is a biannual report estimating the state’s highway repair needs, available funding, and strategies for keeping the state’s roadways running efficiently over the next decade. The Sacramento Bee’s headline on the report’s release says it ...
Tim Anaya
April 19, 2021
Blog
Maybe It Won’t Be So Easy to Pass These Tax Hikes
Much of the political energy in Sacramento and Washington lately has focused on taxes. Speculation has focused on which taxes liberal politicians will raise, and by how much. While pundits are all but declaring it a fait accompli, two recent developments suggest it will be more difficult than first thought. ...
Tim Anaya
April 5, 2021
Blog
Government Mandates Big Reason Why Californians Pay More for Gas
Gas prices in California and across the country have been rising sharply since the start of the year. According to the Orange County Register, “the cost of an average gallon of gasoline has climbed to “the highest it’s been in 67 weeks.” As of March 17, average gas prices in ...
Tim Anaya
March 22, 2021
Blog
Stimulus Plan a Bailout Bonanza for California
With Congress on Wednesday giving final approval to President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, who is the biggest winner from Washington’s biggest ever spending spree? State and local governments in California. In music to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ears, a virtual Brink’s truck is about deliver a mountain of cash from ...
Tim Anaya
March 11, 2021
Blog
Is Stockton’s Basic Income Scheme Actually Working?
Proponents of Stockton’s universal basic income (UBI) pilot project – known as the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, or SEED – released a report last week detailing its first year findings. The report’s main claim is receiving UBI boosted full-time work. In February 2019, 28 percent of recipients had full-time employment, ...
Tim Anaya
March 10, 2021
Blog
House Covid Bill More About Politics Than Immediate Covid Relief
Late Friday, the House took its first vote to pass President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, the first step toward their goal of enacting the plan into law before a March 14 deadline when some unemployment benefits will expire. Much of last week’s media coverage of the plan centered around ...
Tim Anaya
March 2, 2021
Blog
‘And Now, The Rest of the Story’ on Controversial Voter Outreach Sweetheart Deal
No one who is younger than 40 will remember the late legendary radio commentator Paul Harvey. Every afternoon, he would begin his daily radio program by promising to tell us “the rest of the story.” Thanks to a provision slipped into a budget trailer bill last week, Californians now know ...
Tim Anaya
February 23, 2021
Newsom’s May Revise Places Big Spending Bet That the Good Times Will Continue to Roll
On Friday, Gov. Newsom unveiled the “May Revise” to his 2021-22 state budget plan, proposing a record $196.8 billion in General Fund spending and $267.8 billion in total spending. Saying that the budget doesn’t “play small ball,” Newsom presented what he called a “generational budget” and “a historic, transformational budget.” ...
California Poised for Massive State Budget Spending Increases
Viewers of President Biden’s speech to Congress last week may have been struck by size of the trillions in new federal spending the President outlined in his speech. In advance of the President’s speech, Democrats in the California Legislature had a message for Washington – hold my beer! Assembly and ...
CEQA Strikes Again in Holding Up Major Homebuilding Project
Recently, the Southern California Association of Governments voted on new housing development goals for the region for the coming decade. Its vote requires cities and counties to make plans to zone for up to 1.34 million new homes by the end of the decade. The need to build additional new ...
New Caltrans Report Latest Reminders That Sacramento Continues to Shortchange Congestion Relief
Caltrans last week released a draft of its 2021 “State Highway System Maintenance Plan,” which is a biannual report estimating the state’s highway repair needs, available funding, and strategies for keeping the state’s roadways running efficiently over the next decade. The Sacramento Bee’s headline on the report’s release says it ...
Maybe It Won’t Be So Easy to Pass These Tax Hikes
Much of the political energy in Sacramento and Washington lately has focused on taxes. Speculation has focused on which taxes liberal politicians will raise, and by how much. While pundits are all but declaring it a fait accompli, two recent developments suggest it will be more difficult than first thought. ...
Government Mandates Big Reason Why Californians Pay More for Gas
Gas prices in California and across the country have been rising sharply since the start of the year. According to the Orange County Register, “the cost of an average gallon of gasoline has climbed to “the highest it’s been in 67 weeks.” As of March 17, average gas prices in ...
Stimulus Plan a Bailout Bonanza for California
With Congress on Wednesday giving final approval to President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, who is the biggest winner from Washington’s biggest ever spending spree? State and local governments in California. In music to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ears, a virtual Brink’s truck is about deliver a mountain of cash from ...
Is Stockton’s Basic Income Scheme Actually Working?
Proponents of Stockton’s universal basic income (UBI) pilot project – known as the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, or SEED – released a report last week detailing its first year findings. The report’s main claim is receiving UBI boosted full-time work. In February 2019, 28 percent of recipients had full-time employment, ...
House Covid Bill More About Politics Than Immediate Covid Relief
Late Friday, the House took its first vote to pass President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, the first step toward their goal of enacting the plan into law before a March 14 deadline when some unemployment benefits will expire. Much of last week’s media coverage of the plan centered around ...
‘And Now, The Rest of the Story’ on Controversial Voter Outreach Sweetheart Deal
No one who is younger than 40 will remember the late legendary radio commentator Paul Harvey. Every afternoon, he would begin his daily radio program by promising to tell us “the rest of the story.” Thanks to a provision slipped into a budget trailer bill last week, Californians now know ...