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February 22, 2023 - Presented to: Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications
February 22, 2023 - Presented to: Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation
October 3, 2022 - Presented to: Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation
August 8, 2022 - California's Unemployment Insurance (UI) program provides wage replacement to unemployed workers. The program has faltered during recent downturns, causing hardship for workers and their families, holding back the state's economic recovery, and spurring frustration among Californians with their government. Recent failures trace back to the UI program's basic design, which results in more emphasis being placed on limiting fraud and business costs than making sure eligible workers get benefits quickly and easily. Although this emphasis is not new, the pandemic has highlighted the need to rebalance the UI program. We recommend about a dozen targeted changes to state practices to place a greater priority on getting payments to eligible unemployed workers.
August 2, 2022 - Presented to: Senate Committee on Health Assembly Committee on Health
June 24, 2022 - Chapter 837 of 2019 (SB 34, Wiener) established new tax exemptions for donations of medicinal cannabis. The law directs our office to submit an annual report containing data on three outcomes related to the exemptions: the number of medicinal cannabis patients served, the amount of medicinal cannabis products donated, and the amount of tax revenue lost. This report fulfills that statutory requirement for 2021.
May 12, 2022 - In response to increasing prices across the economy—particularly fuel prices—the Legislature is contemplating a number of policies for providing fiscal relief to Californians. In this post, we identify key questions for the Legislature to consider when analyzing the merits of the options proposed by the Governor and in designing its own relief package.
March 29, 2022 - Presented to the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration and the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy.
March 22, 2022 - Assembly Budget Subcommittee #4 on State Administration
March 1, 2022 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 On State Administration
February 22, 2022 - Presented to: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee #4 on State Administration and General Government
February 11, 2022 - This post provides some background about the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), describes the Governor’s budget proposal for GO-Biz, and offers comments and issues for the Legislature to consider.