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We scan major news sources* and compile selected articles to keep you up-to-date on current issues affecting California business - the economy, health care, environment, transportation and more.
Top Story
(June 17, 2013) Immigration reform is especially important to California, says Allan Zaremberg, President and CEO of the California Chamber of Commerce, in a letter sent today to members of Congress urging action on national immigration reform. More than 20 local chamber of commerce executives from throughout California also joined a growing coalition who signed the letter.
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Public Affairs / Politics |
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California lawmakers passed a $96.3 billion budget on Friday that would spend more on education, health care and other services while setting aside $1.1 billion from the first surplus in years for a rainy day fund.Reuters As the state Senate finished voting today on a bill to extend a tax on managed care plans, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg told reporters at the back of the room, "That is what's called a supermajority."The Sacramento Bee After approving the main state budget bill a full day ahead of their constitutional deadline, California legislators are returning to work with only a handful of measures still to consider.Associated Press Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to allow courts to charge a search fee for access to public records fell short of making it into the spending plan. But his move to suspend a state mandate that requires local governments to follow the Public Records Act is included in the plan lawmakers are considering today.The Sacramento Bee
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Human Resources / Health & Safety |
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Two California bills to expand the state health program for the poor were passed by California lawmakers over the weekend.Capital Public Radio Some companies are warning that President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul will cost jobs. It won't be in their legal departments.The Wall Street Journal The Legislature passed a major piece of the federal Affordable Care Act on Saturday, opting to expand Medicaid to 1.4 million low-income Californians, as it rushed to meet its deadline to complete a state budget.Associated Press
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Let's say you were buried under an avalanche of debt for years and could only make the minimum payments on your credit card bills. But then you started cutting back your expenses -- and even got a raise at work. Suddenly, you were paying your bills on time, and even going out to eat a couple of times a month.San Jose Mercury News The program rewards companies for hiring in certain places, but recipients are secret, and Brown says some just move jobs from one part of California to another. He wants a new system.Los Angeles Times Is the era of ultra-low interest rates nearing an end? That's the question - and the fear - Chairman Ben Bernanke will face this week when he takes questions after a Federal Reserve policy meeting.Associated Press
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Environmental / Agriculture |
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President Barack Obama has vowed to tackle climate change in his second term, but so far has not acted to strengthen a tool that does not require backing from Congress - the National Environmental Policy Act.Reuters A pair of fundraisers just 90 minutes apart in the San Francisco Bay Area last week laid bare the competing forces of politics and policy that President Obama is grappling with as he prepares to unveil a slate of major initiatives on global warming in late June or in July.The Washington Post Democratic hawks on climate change are putting pressure on the White House to use executive power to cut emissions. And L.A. Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman is doing some of the pushing.KPCC
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While the Obama administration’s trade ambitions are getting bigger, its trade office within the Commerce Department is getting smaller. Slightly.Bloomberg British Prime Minister David Cameron says leaders gathering Monday for the G-8 summit in Northern Ireland should reach speedy agreement on trade and tax reforms, and draw inspiration from the host country's ability to resolve its own stubborn conflict.Associated Press South Korea will make heavy users of electricity cut consumption during peak-demand hours this summer as it seeks to avert its worst-ever power shortages.Bloomberg
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Infrastructure / Education |
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As the state budget and economy improve, districts are counting on more money in the future, helping to balance their books over the next few years. The Sacramento Bee Like a lot of college students preparing to graduate, Aaron Green, a senior at Cal State Long Beach, is looking forward to a career in his chosen field. But the excitement over graduation is tempered with a common worry among college kids: paying off his student loans.Inland Valley Daily Bulletin Dan gives a history of school finance in California and says the latest budget adds another controversial chapter to that saga.The Sacramento Bee CapitolAlert
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California's monthly report on jobs and unemployment includes a county-by-county breakdown, providing graphic evidence of the state's bifurcated recovery from the worst recession since the Great Depression.Dan Walters in The Sacramento Bee California's enterprise zone program has been a success in creating and retaining jobs for hundreds of thousands of individuals facing barriers to employment and has attracted investment to economically distressed areas of our state, particularly in rural and minority communities. It provides benefits to impoverished communities, as well as to veterans, the disabled and the long-term unemployed.Craig Johnson in The Sacramento Bee
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* Some newspapers listed require the viewer to register, log in, or pay in order to view the entire article. After some time, most papers file older stories in their archive section. Access to those stories may require that you pay to view them. |
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