By next week, consumers could see their internet service subject to taxation. Currently, internet service providers do not charge state or local sales tax, thanks to a piece of federal legislation called the Internet Tax Freedom Act. But that law, authored 16 years ago by former California Congressman Chris Cox and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, will expire on Dec. 11 unless Congress acts to extend it or make it permanent.
DMV Director Jean Shiomoto on the job. (Photos: Scott Duncan, Capitol Weekly)Jean Shiomoto, who grew up on a pear farm in the Delta, has one of the toughest jobs in California – she runs the Department of Motor Vehicles. In this car-happy state – by one estimate, L.A. County alone has 5.9 million registered automobiles, more than all but five states – anything do with with automobiles is a big deal.
A powerplant at sunset. (Photo: David Crockett)OPINION: So, while the program is certainly generating revenue for the state, is it working? Eighteen months in, it appears the answer is yes. Firms affected by the requirements say that they are paying attention to it, that they believe it’s here to stay, and that it’s prompted them to look at ways to reduce emissions. In recent interviews with cement industry stakeholders we learned that companies are factoring the carbon price into their analysis of investment opportunities.
The Genesis Solar Energy Project near Blythe in the Mojave Desert. (Photo: The CYR Group)OPINION: Solar energy developers are working behind the scenes to sneak continuation of an industry-specific property tax exemption into the state budget deal, further tipping the playing field in their direction.
World headquarters of Tesla Motors in Palo Alto. (Photo: Katherine Welles)California lawmakers, who have fallen head over heels for Tesla Motors, once again are wooing their fickle sweetheart. Gov. Jerry Brown and two state senators – one a Republican, the other a Democrat — are working to entice Tesla to build its newest manufacturing facility in California, instead of going outside the state. It’s the latest in a long string of efforts in Sacramento that so far have managed to keep Tesla in the Golden State.
Headquarters of the state controller, Sacramento. (Photo: Coolcaesar)ELECTION 2014: California’s “top two“ primary system is creating an odd dynamic – a Democratic party primary within an open primary. In the race for state controller, the top three candidates are Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, a Republican, and Democrats Betty Yee and John Pérez. Yee is a member of the Board of Equalization and Pérez served as Assembly speaker.
Street art in Santa Barbara., August 2011. Philip Bird OPINION: Since 2003, California’s Governors and the Legislature have allocated $1.1 million annually to the Arts Council, the bare minimum necessary to qualify for a $1 million National Endowment for the Arts grant. This lack of foresight has put California dead last among all 50 states in per capita funding for its arts agency.
Pumpjacks in a Kern County oil field, November 2013. (Photo: Christopher Halloran)It has been killed repeatedly in the state Legislature or at the ballot box, but the backers of an oil severance tax hope 2014 is the year to get it done, to the tune of $2 billion annually. But history is not on their side. Above: Pumpjacks in Kern County, November 2013. (Photo: Christopher Halloran)
Two years after Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature dismantled California’s $5 billion-a-year redevelopment program, Brown wants to bring some elements back — but he’s offering less money, a different name and a change in local voters’ approval. The crux of Brown’s plan is to expand the reach of the rarely-used, little-known Infrastructure Finance Districts. The districts, or IFDs, have taxing authority and are created with voter approval. They function on property tax dollars and focus on highways, transit and sewer projects, libraries, parks and child care centers.
OPINION: For 40 years there has been an unspoken — and unbroken — rule that Southern California splits leadership of the Legislature with the Bay Area and greater Northern California. This year, Southern California leaders could seize complete control of the Legislature, winning leadership of both the Senate and the Assembly.