Jerry Brown – who made "lower your expectations" a catchphrase of his first governorship – is back in that mode during his second stint, especially on spending.Dan Walters in The Sacramento Bee
Reforming the law, then, requires striking a delicate balance between preserving its protections and curbing its unnecessary job-killing costs and delays. A bill that goes before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday might not resolve all the valid complaints about the law, but it moves the state in the right direction. Written by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), SB 731 tackles some of the common, legitimate complaints about the law.Los Angeles Times
The California state treasury is flush with new revenue: $7 billion from Proposition 30, which raised income and sales taxes; and $1 billion from Proposition 39, which raised taxes on out-of-state businesses. Then, there's a $4.5 billion windfall of tax collections, expected to last only the upcoming fiscal year.The Orange County Register
Last year 4,062 regulations were at various stages of implementation inside the Beltway. The government completed work on 1,172, an increase of 16% over the 1,010 that the feds imposed in 2011, which was a 40% increase over 722 in 2010.The Wall Street Journal