California bill to limit data collected by retailers selling downloads
by Timm Herdt , Huffington Post
Online merchants are now free to use information to build customer profiles for marketing or for sale to third parties who may use this information for any purpose. Read More ›
Court refuses Mercury’s request to delay rate decrease required by insurance commissioner
by Douglas Heller & Carmen Balber, Consumer Watchdog
Mercury has sued to block a $16.5-million rate cut, asked court to delay implementation. Read More ›
Brown seeks to rewrite toxins law
by Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
He says unscrupulous lawyers are misusing the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, or Proposition 65, by seeking monetary gain from lawsuits. Read More ›
Record $2.25-billion fine recommended in San Bruno explosion
by Kate Mather, Los Angeles Times
A division of the CPUC recommended that the agency levy a $2.25-billion penalty against PG&E for the deadly 2010 explosion in San Bruno. Read More ›
SB 661 would weaken California’s Made in USA label (2-year bill)
CFC opposed the bill, which would undercut businesses that are committed to American manufacturing and mislead consumers who care about truthful labels. It has become a 2-year bill. Read More ›
Legislation seeks to tweak standards for ‘Made in USA’
by Sally Schilling, San Mateo Daily Journal
We do not support changing the current standard. If something is 90 percent made in the U.S., it should say 90 percent made in the U.S., said Richard Holober, CFC executive director. Read More ›
Prop. 13 loophole gives edge to big players
by Jason Felch and Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times
Change of ownership, key to reassessment, is cut-and-dried for homeowners but not businesses. It means a loss of tens of millions of dollars a year in tax revenue.
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California tax revenue yields multibillion-dollar surplus
by Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times
State coffers contain about $4.5 billion more than expected in personal income tax payments. Business taxes have also rebounded, signaling an economic recovery. Read More ›
The fight for the “Right to Know” goes on
by Nicole A. Ozer , ACLU Northern California
Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) has announced that the California Right to Know Act (AB 1291) will not be voted on this year but she will keep working to pass it next year. Read More ›
Where will the drone jobs go? States balance economic opportunity with privacy concerns
by Victor Luckerson, Time
In California, with the highest unemployment rate, Republican Jeff Gorell and Democrat Steven Bradford presented a privacy bill that guards against drone surveillance, but they are pushing a bill to provide tax breaks to drone manufacturers. Read More ›
Assembly committee passes three bills to impose fracking moratorium
by Timm Herdt, Ventura County Star
An Assembly panel passed three bills that propose to halt fracking for up to five years while more studies on environmental safety are conducted. Read More ›
Annual Medicare, Medicaid spending in California tops $100 billion
by Phillip Reese, Sacramento Bee
Government health spending in California now exceeds the size of the entire state general fund budget. Read More ›
Furloughs over, so air controllers (and flights) back on schedule
by Hugo Martin, Los Angeles Times
Operations are back to normal at airports across the country as federal officials stop the furlough of air traffic controllers. Read More ›