Adding Up Possible Budget Solutions Still Leaves State Short

Adding up potential budget solutions still leaves Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger – and lawmakers — a sizable hole to fill in the revised version of his budget the GOP governor presents May 14.

The likely size of the gap between revenues and spending commitments that must be closed is likely to be around $22 billion.    Read more »

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No Sales Tax Exemption for Clean Tech Manufacturing As Yet

On March 24, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation he touted as creating a sales tax exemption for purchases of green tech manufacturing equipment.

“(This bill) will expand our clean tech industry and bring the green jobs and businesses we need to rebuild California’s economy,” the GOP governor said at the bill signing.    Read more »

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Is This a List of the Growth Industries of California’s Future?

A recent survey by the state Employment Development Department sought to determine how extensive the state’s green economy is.

Employers were asked how many employees performed various “green” jobs.

The list of jobs was extensive:

Soil and plant scientists, heating and air conditioning technicians, sustainable farmers, energy auditors, hazardous materials removers, recycling center operators mechanical engineers, insulation workers, sustainability planners, wind turbine technicians, biomass collectors, battery engineers, assemblers, alternative fuel vehicle technicians were a few of them.    Read more »

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One Look at the Growth of Green Jobs and Green Businesses

The state of California is in the process of creating a uniform definition of what constitutes the “green economy” or a “green job,” phrases routinely used by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

One of the sources the state is using is Many Shades of Green, a December 2009 report by Next 10, a Palo Alto-based nonprofit, which shows a 45 percent increase in the number of green businesses from 1995 through 2008 – from 9,000 to roughly 13,000.    Read more »

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Meg Whitman’s New “Liberal” Attack Mailer on Steve Poizner

(Editor’s Note: The upside-down return address and ID for the source of the mailer — Meg Whitman for Governor 2010 — a nice, moderately deceptive touch.)

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Schwarzenegger Makes Fundraising Push for Proposition 14

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Lay of the Budget Landscape as the May Revision Approaches

Due in part to lower-than-expected April tax collections, California now faces a budget shortfall of at least $22 billion, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will announce when he unveils his revised spending plan on Friday May 14.

The GOP governor’s estimate of budget gaps has traditionally been larger than the Democratic majority Legislature because Schwarzenegger includes replenishing a reserve account to deal with unexpected disasters, economic and natural.    Read more »

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Two-Year Ban on Metal Bats in High School Baseball Advances

Legislation to place a two-year moratorium on the use of metal bats in high school baseball was approved May 5 by the Senate Education Committee.

The measure, AB 7 by Assemblyman Jared Huffman, a San Rafael Democrat, was sparked by 16-year-old Gunnar Sandberg, who was hit in the head by a line drive off a metal bat while pitching for Marin Catholic High School in Huffman’s district.    Read more »

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Independent Expenditure Committee Attacks Tom Campbell

(Editor’s Note: This posting has been REVISED. The initial headline said the mailer below was sent by the Carly Fiorina for U.S. Senate campaign. IT WASN’T. It was, in fact, sent by the American Future Fund whose website says that it is a 501(c)(4) “formed to provide Americans with a conservative and free market viewpoint to have a mechanism to communicate and advocate on the issues that most interest and concern them.”     Read more »

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Warren Buffett and Charles Munger on California’s Prospects

Asked at a May 2, 2010 press conference the day following the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha Nebraska, Warren Buffett and his business partner, California resident Charles Munger, were asked a question about the Golden State.

The thrust of the question centered on however California goes, so goes the nation.    Read more »

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