State Short of Cash Collection Estimates by Nearly $539 Million, Controller Says

The state’s July revenues were down $538.8 million — 10.3 percent — below projections from the recently passed state budget, according to a report on the previous month’s cash balance issued August 9 by State Controller John Chiang.

“While July’s revenues performed remarkably similar to last year’s, they still did not meet the budget’s projections,” said Chiang in a press release.    Read more »

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Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom Pushes Ambitious Economic Development Plan

Export more, increase innovation, get greener and manufacture more of what is invented in-state, are the cornerstones of an economic development plan being unveiled today (July 29) in San Jose by Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom.

Nine months in the making, the 30-page Economic Growth and Competitiveness Agenda for California lays out a general strategy to improve the state’s economic condition and competitiveness as well as a few specific steps to implement it.    Read more »

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State Unemployment Climbs .1 Percent in June to 11.8 Percent

SACRAMENTO — California’s unemployment rate increased to 11.8 percent in June, and non-agriculture jobs increased by 28,800 during the month, according to data released July 22 by the California Employment Development Department from two separate surveys.

The US unemployment rate also increased in June, to 9.2 percent.

In May, the state’s unemployment rate was 11.7 percent.    Read more »

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New Car Sales Gains Lower in Second Quarter But Some Mitigating Factors

New retail vehicle registrations increased 19.8 percent in California during the first half of 2011, compared with the first half of 2010, the California New Car Dealers Association announced July 21 that

Although California’s new car dealers report more buyers compared with last year, second quarter sales dramatically slowed due to vehicle inventory shortages resulting from the Japanese earthquake and the anticipated lowering of the state sales tax rate by 1 percent on July 1.    Read more »

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State Fraud Investigators Not Handsomely Rewarded by the Budget

Among the rake offs used to help restore the cash-starved general fund for the fiscal year that began July 1 is $20 million from the Department of Justice that is part of a recent $241 million settlement with Quest Diagnostics involving overcharges to Medi-Cal, the state’s health care program for the poor.    Read more »

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The Cost of Simply Going to Court

It’s not cheap filing a civil case in California, the nation’s largest court system.

For the past five years, fees for probate, family law matters and civil cases have steadily increased.

A few have doubled.

One batch of increases that took effect in 2009 created a revenue stream to pay debt service on bonds for new courthouse construction.    Read more »

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Will California’s Other Deficit Be Eliminated by the Federal Government?

While a new state budget is in place, California has done nothing to eliminate its other deficit – a $10.6 billion-and-climbing hole in the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

Insolvent since January 2009 and kept afloat through federal loans, the fund pays weekly benefits of up to 99 weeks to workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own.    Read more »

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Every Little Bit Helps — June Tax Collections Above Estimates

State tax collections for June helped move the state toward the $4 billion in additional unexpected revenue the new spending plan is premised on.

June income tax collections were $3.8 billion — $655 million more than the $3.2 billion Gov. Jerry Brown’s Department of Finance predicted the Franchise Tax Board would collect for the month.    Read more »

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State Starts Fiscal Year with A Budget in Place — For a Change

On the last day of the fiscal year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a $120 billion spending plan that he and his fellow Democrats say reduced the state’s chronic ongoing gap between revenues and spending commitments by 75 percent.

The spending blueprint also largely holds state spending on public schools at last year’s levels although some $2.1  billion in payments from the state are deferred.    Read more »

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Why Cut Vehicle License Fees? At Least They’re a Tax Write-Off

The budget deal between Gov. Jerry Brown and the Democratic majority Legislature being approved by lawmakers beginning June 28 includes a $12 increase in the registration fees paid on the state’s nearly 32 million vehicles.

The current registration fee is $31.

California drivers – the Department of Motor Vehicles says there are almost 24 million — pay annual registration fees that vary based on the age and purchase price of the vehicle.    Read more »

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