by jpitney | Jun 27, 2025 | California Politics
Dan Walters at CalMatters: [All] of the versions of the budget, including the semi-final one unveiled this week, would fill the gaps for another year with payment deferrals, loans, accounting gimmicks and raids on reserves meant to cushion the effects of genuine...
by jpitney | Jun 14, 2025 | California Politics, Constitution, Federalism, State Government
Tenth Amendment: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people Nathan Gardels at Noema: The most effective first line of defense for the states is to...
by jpitney | Jun 7, 2025 | California Politics, Economic Policy
Dan Walters at CalMatters: The disappearance of inter-party competition means Democrats have been free to implement their responses to multiple issues spawned by the state’s economic and cultural complexity — such things as erratic water supply, low-performing public...
by jpitney | May 26, 2025 | California Politics, Immigration, Population, Technology
Jim Carlton and Paul Overberg at WSJ: The state’s population rose 0.6% in 2024, reaching 39.43 million by adding almost a quarter-million people, according to Census Bureau estimates…Yet California’s growth is tenuous. Without immigration, it would have shrunk...
by jpitney | May 19, 2025 | California Politics, Housing
Andrew J. Campa at LAT: California defines income levels by how they compare with the area’s median income. In areas with unusually low or high housing costs, however, those definitions are often tweaked to reflect the reality for area residents. That allows for the...
by jpitney | May 15, 2025 | California Politics, Transportation
Scott Lincicome at The Dispatch: On the leaderboard of government boondoggles, California’s high-speed rail system must surely rank near the top. As Cato Institute analyst Marc Joffe documented in 2023, California voters first approved a $10 billion bond for the...
