GUEST COLUMNS
Friday, May 20, 2022
How fire victims are taxed depends on their circumstances, what they ultimately collect, and what they claim on their taxes.
In the Supreme Court Opinion written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the Court notes that jurisdictional requirements mark the bounds of the Court's authority. These requirements cannot be waived or forfeited and do not allow for equitable exceptions.
A typical dental office cannot perform general anesthesia nor can it accommodate other disabilities requiring wheelchair lifts or other specialized equipment.
Thursday, May 19, 2022
In my experience, trial judges, by nature, presume professionalism, ethical conduct and good faith by the lawyers appearing before them. They don't like attorneys taking out after each other in filings or in court.
Big budget surpluses generate big demands for new spending from the advocates of educational, social welfare and medical services.
The bill comes as California is facing a massive campus housing shortage, forcing some students into long commutes from home or living in hotels.
To address inflation, Newsom is proposing to devote $18.1 billion in state funds.
This critical watershed supplies water to more than 30 million people and more than 6 million acres of farmland.
This case will set the stage for the Ninth Circuit to clarify how far video games and social media companies can go in profiting off of viral dance moves. Previous cases have been unsuccessful, largely on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked copyright registrations in their dances.
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
This insecticide, widely used for decades on fruits, vegetables and many other crops, has triggered growing concerns over its well-documented role in the dramatic declines of birds, bees, butterflies and other insects across the globe.
A longtime financial advisor, she has already funneled about $5.7 million of her own money into her campaign, including a $1.2 million donation last Thursday. That's 95% of her total fundraising of $6 million so far. The other four major contenders have raised about $7 million — combined.
Today, the Bay Area has one of the country's lowest COVID-19 death rates.
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
The board released "a draft plan that, when final, will guide the state's transition to a clean energy economy, drastically reduce the use of fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 or sooner, and significantly clean the state's air especially in disadvantaged communities disproportionately burdened by persistent pollution."
The staffing crisis forced school administrators to find alternatives for full-day substitutes, such as math and reading coaches or a rotating cast of office staff, disrupting instruction for students who already may have been lagging academically.
The decision about the $1.4-billion plant in Huntington Beach is pivotal because it could steer the future of turning seawater into drinking water in California, buffering its vulnerable water supply against drought.
Monday, May 16, 2022
The Decolonizing Wealth Project, an Indigenous and Black-led organization, will distribute $500,000 to California Indigenous communities and nonprofits.
Assembly Bill 1961, authored by Assembly members Jesse Gabriel of Van Nuys, Evan Low of Cupertino and Buffy Wicks of Oakland, would create such a database, allowing Californians who qualify the chance to apply online for a lower-cost place to live.
The researchers found that people who have social or economic advantages tend to believe they'll be harmed by policies that reduce inequality — even when those policies don't reduce their own access to resources
Friday, May 13, 2022
Some – very few, really – have enthusiastically embraced new laws and decrees requiring them to zone more land for housing and remove barriers to development, such as onerous architectural rules.
California Realtors, Habitat for Humanity and the California Building Industry Association — a housing coalition — echoes those calls to our legislative budget committee leaders working on revising the state budget to allocate a greater portion of the projected surplus to the construction of owner-occupied housing and down-payment assistance programs.
While 84% of all Californians 5 years and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, only about 57% of those in Medi-Cal, the health insurance program for low-income residents, have done so as of April, according to the latest vaccination update from the California Department of Health Care Services.
The California Air Resources Board's draft of its ambitious proposal, called a scoping plan, outlines policies that focus on reducing reliance on oil, capturing carbon dioxide emitted by industries and increasing dependence on renewable power sources, such as wind, solar and electric cars.
Thursday, May 12, 2022
One of the President's proposals is to tax long term capital gains and qualified dividends as ordinary income if your taxable income exceeds $1m. If you make a big gain, having a rate jump from 23.8% to 39.6% is going to hurt.
California hasn't had a real two-party contest for governor since 2010, when Republican businesswoman Meg Whitman spent nearly $150 million in a vain campaign against former Gov. Jerry Brown.
Companies in several states — including California — currently must tell workers about a job's pay ranges upon request, while Colorado, Washington and New York City have passed measures in recent years requiring companies to put pay ranges in job postings.
In a letter to HBO, West's lawyer claims that Winning Time falsely and cruelly portrays West as an out-of-control, intoxicated, rage-aholic. West's lawyer claims that the producers have committed the tort of false light invasion of privacy by creating a false impression about Mr. West that is highly offensive and injurious to his reputation and have also defamed Mr. West by attributing acts of rage to him that he never committed.
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Dale Kasler and Ryan Sabalow, ace reporters for my old employer, the Sacramento Bee, describe in great detail how some victims of the wildfire that wiped out the small town of Paradise four years ago have been victimized again by shoddy contractors who promised to rebuild their homes.
The bill clarifies that colleges shouldn't require students to repeat math and English classes they passed in high school.
The bill, introduced by Assembly Housing Chair Buffy Wicks, mirrors multiple bills that died in recent years as a result of squabbling between developers and labor unions.
Tuesday, May 10, 2022
Often, effective HR isn't a priority and recruitment tends to center around identifying other people "like us." As a result, unconscious gender bias can unwittingly inform recruitment decisions. Without effective HR, bad seeds quickly grow.
Spurred by new pro-housing laws, HCD issued much higher quotas on local governments to zone land for residential construction and created a special unit to enforce the goals. Attorney General Rob Bonta also weighed in, saying his office would crack down on cities that drag their feet.
While North Orange County may not have the same drought burdens as other communities across California — given our robust aquifer — we know Brookfield-Poseidon's proposed Huntington Beach Ocean Desalination Project is not the answer to bringing new water resources to our region.
Poseidon Water has weaved through the state's complex and evolving regulatory landscape for nearly two decades in pursuit of that development permit.
The program is a significant benefit to "small employers" subject to the CFRA.
Monday, May 9, 2022
JOC contracting is a project delivery method used on public works projects and has been authorized to be used by California K-12 school districts, community colleges, CalState universities, and the Judicial Council of California.
One in 20 University of California students, one in 10 California State University students and one in five California Community Colleges students have reported they were homeless at some point during the academic year.
A bill sponsored by Torrance Democrat Al Muratsuchi, AB 2220, would create a homeless courts pilot program, offering grants to counties which can tailor programs to their own communities.
The California State Water Project draws snow runoff from the Sierra in Northern California, where this year the snowpack in some places was at just 5% of its average. And water also comes from the Colorado River and its Lake Mead and Lake Powell reservoirs, which are lower now than ever.
Friday, May 6, 2022
There are the everyday functions — writing checks, conducting audits, making policy recommendations and serving on nearly 80 boards, including ones that oversee state employee retirement funds.
For those of us who are not able to help the people of Ukraine in person but still want to aid in relief efforts, it can be hard to know how best to get involved and make the fullest impact with your support.
Thursday, May 5, 2022
Most districts would welcome an enrollment increase and the per-student state funding boost that usually comes with it. But these growing districts were shortchanged when the state implemented blanket COVID-19 policies protecting districts that lost enrollment during the pandemic.
While the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office says there's no data to justify that spending, a union has collected survey information that could help the governor's case.
Professors and teachers have confronted the challenge of how to prevent students from cheating on exams.
Wednesday, May 4, 2022
High-end shopping centers, trendy restaurants and seven-figure homes abound and those who live and work in the area complained for months about an encampment of about 30 homeless people in a grassy strip of land at the intersection.
Seeking to maintain the fierce devotion of GOP voters as he eyes another presidential run in 2024, Trump continues to hold regular campaign rallies that draw thousands of attendees, while his endorsements are scrambling races from Pennsylvania to Ohio to Georgia as he attempts to play kingmaker in crucial primaries.
Echoing similar announcements from competitors like Samsung and Apple, Pixel phone owners will be able to buy parts to make common repairs, such as swapping out a battery or display.
California lawmakers last year gave the system $120 million to help bring students back.
Tuesday, May 3, 2022
Nationwide, the number of families receiving cash aid has plunged from a peak of 5 million in 1994 to roughly a fifth of that today.
One of the oddest involved spouses of doctors who were seeking relief from soaring medical malpractice lawsuit awards that were driving up their liability insurance premiums.
This year, by expanding Medi-Cal to all Californians with low incomes, regardless of immigration status, our state will achieve another milestone: historically low numbers of residents lacking health insurance.
The plan, which aims for an 80% reduction of greenhouse gases below 1990 levels by 2050, would cost an estimated $18 billion in 2035 and $27 billion in 2045.
Millions of people — broadly spread among the 65% of American households who own their home — have gained a share of this windfall.
Monday, May 2, 2022
Of the four sports betting initiatives competing to make November's ballot, one, paid for by online sports betting giants FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM, would allow gaming companies and Native American tribes to provide sports betting online across the state.
Last week, for the first time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that gun deaths are now the leading cause of death for all children and teens in the U.S. — surpassing car accidents and drowning incidents.
The agreement, announced today, would replace the ballot measure with legislation raising the cap for a patient's "non-economic damages," or pain and suffering, although in a more incremental approach than the initiative would have.
Among the biggest shortcomings: Californians aren't getting the benefits they should from the billions the state is spending.
Southern California officials this week announced new water conservation rules, including forbidding millions of households from turning on their sprinklers more than once a week.
Friday, April 29, 2022
This week, Newsom's Healthy California for All Commission delivered its report, endorsing — in concept — "unified financing" that would pay for universal health care coverage, but stopping well short of a specific proposal.
In 2021, the inflation rate, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, rose by 7.0 percent, the largest annual change in living costs since the early 1980s.
Thursday, April 28, 2022
"We are honored to partner with Urban Alchemy on bringing this project to fruition," firm partner Eduardo Santacana said
"The existence of a crisis is not the ultimate question raised here. The question is, who is responsible, and for what?" lawyer Collie James said in his opening statement.
The lawsuit, filed by The PLS.com LLC, claims the national association is violating federal and state antitrust laws by requiring all listings to be posted on its own multiple listing service within one business day.
Speaking to the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association, Liu said, "We are at a point where the mentorships are very possible so a resource you have is 60 or 70,000 other Asian American lawyers like yourself. Take advantage of that."
California will be opposed by the Biden administration, whose Justice Department filed a brief asking that the state's petition be denied because Congress has given the Department of Homeland Security broad discretion to use private prisons to house detainees.
Operational expenses were down by $52 million in 2021, compared to 2020, but only $9 million down from 2019, according to the legally required annual outside financial audit.
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Jarvis and its allied groups have prevailed for more than four decades, most recently fending off a 2020 ballot measure that would have removed some of Proposition 13's limits from business property.
Of the 1.8 million barrels of oil we consume each day, fewer than 400,000 are produced in-state.
Cities are trying to figure out how to make people feel safe riding subways, commuter trains and buses amid rising crime and violence.
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel certified questions for the California Supreme Court about a lawsuit by a couple who sued the husband's employer for allegedly exposing him to COVID-19 in 2020, which made his wife seriously ill.
But U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen also confirmed what plaintiffs' attorneys had stated in their brief, that Elon Musk's two Aug. 7, 2018 tweets concerning taking Tesla private "were in fact false and made with the requisite scienter."
Monday, April 25, 2022
President Biden has proposed what he calls the "Billionaire Minimum Income Tax" as part of his new budget. The title is a misnomer, as tax legislation so often is. You don't have to be a billionaire to be saddled with it.
The latest cornerstone to fall, less than two years after it was built: California's $25 million COVID testing lab.
While most districts will receive additional dollars for the expansion, 15% will not — and are facing tough budget choices as they comply with the new fall mandate.
States and cities will soon be showered with $1.2 trillion in infrastructure funding that Congress allocated last year.
Friday, April 22, 2022
While everyone's journey is different, I know from my years of experience as a financial advisor that there are common themes when it comes to questions about retirement.
While COVID-19 remains a threat — and could re-emerge as an existential concern — a new poll by UC-Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies finds it occupying a very low place on Californians' list of issues demanding attention.
Over the last year, San Diego Gas & Electric, one of the three investor-owned utility companies in California, conducted a robust analysis on how to decarbonize California and the San Diego region.
Known as Middle Class Scholarship 2.0, the "debt-free" program is slated to receive its first infusion of money this summer: a cool $632 million that lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom promised in last year's state budget that they said they'd fund this year.
Thursday, April 21, 2022
One of the most interesting pieces of legislation that ought to have a chance of passage is S.500 – a bipartisan bill that would restrict the commercial use of personally identifiable health information collected from a smartwatch or similar consumer device without consent.
Measured by either a percentage of personal income or a share of economic output, California's state and local taxes are the fifth highest of any state, according to the Tax Foundation.
A coalition of anti-poverty organizations is calling for the state to send a one-time payment of $2,000 per child to families making up to $30,000 a year.
Medi-Cal is the state and federally funded program offering health care to low-income residents. Kaiser Permanente proudly provides the highest-quality Medi-Cal coverage and care in the state to more than 900,000 people in 22 counties.
Various productivity applications, often on workers' smartphones or other devices, track and predict delivery drivers' and warehouse workers' every move, collecting data on their location, speed, and accuracy in finishing orders, according to a study by UC Berkeley's Labor Center.
He has his work cut out for him if he wants to become California's next attorney general.
Some things, referred to as patent-ineligible subject matter, are not patentable: laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas.
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