Jan. 11, 2010 By KATY GRIMES In what appeared to be the first good news of the new year, the Assembly Committee on Jobs and Economic Development voted unanimously to ease the permitting process for start-up and expanding businesses in the state. Not so fast… this bill only applies to busines...
Archive for January 8th, 2010Business-friendly bill or not?Friday, January 8th, 2010Where’s Marty?Friday, January 8th, 2010Just sat in on a 3:30 pm conference call sponsored by the Governor's Office of External Affairs. Brand new Finance Director Ana Matosantos was there, as was Labor Department Director Vicky Bradshaw. Matosantos spoke quickly, throwing out a lot of numbers but precious little substance while Bradshaw ... Arnold’s budget: More cuts neededFriday, January 8th, 2010I'm working on a longer piece on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2010-11 budget proposal [pdf]. My preliminary thoughts: It's a start on reducing a projected $19.9 billion deficit. It cuts spending an additional $8.5 billion, shifts $4.5 billion in spending, and anticipated $6.9 billion more from th... Budget: state employees to contribute additional 5 percentFriday, January 8th, 2010From the governor's office: State Employee Compensation Savings: To achieve $1.4 billion in General Fund savings, Governor Schwarzenegger proposed 15 percent reduction in state personnel costs achieved by modifying employee compensation and reducing our workforce budget. The changes to employee c... ‘Community groups’ or union fronts?Friday, January 8th, 2010National Public Radio's KPCC reported today that "community groups" are planning to protest the governor's plan to slash pay for government employees. It's interesting to me that grassroots groups that ostensibly are there to help the poor are taking to the streets to stand up for some of the best-p... Cuts in state pay, benefits proposedFriday, January 8th, 2010The Bee reported this morning that the governor "will propose ending fulroughs for state workers at the end of June but seek permanent pay cuts an dhigher employee retirement contributions in their place ... ." Check out state salaries here. And here are state civil service pay scales. Check out the... Has Willie Brown seen the light?Friday, January 8th, 2010Watch the governor live 11:30 amFriday, January 8th, 2010Union bosses fight back on pensionsFriday, January 8th, 2010Debra Saunders: Arnold a flopFriday, January 8th, 2010One of my favorite columnists is Debra Saunders of Chronicle. She's survived the ongoing demise of newspapers, at least so far. Her take on Arnold's State of the State address is similar to mine (which was published yesterday in our news section). She writes: Mention Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger... |