In light of today’s Los Angeles Times article San Bernardino: Broken City and The New York Times article Los Angeles Confronts a Spike in Homelessness Amid Prosperity I wanted to share with you some thoughts on poverty and lower-income trends in California since the late 1980’s.
State’s Fiscal Health. CA’s budget has moved from an $18 billion deficit in 2011 to a projected $2 billion cash surplus in fiscal 2015-16.
The current drought continues to expose fundamental weaknesses – antiquated infrastructure, conflicting laws and policies and political conflict – in the water supply system of California and the western United States.
The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted for the 33rd time since 2008 to extend transportation funding for the short-term, highlighting the fact that there is still no consensus on how to raise the approximately $50 billion that the federal government sends to localities to fund transportation.
What should the City of Los Angeles’ minimum wage be – $10, $13.25 or $15 an hour? If we do increase the minimum wage, will that provide an economic boost to L.A., or drive jobs out of the city? These questions deserve thoughtful consideration and rigorous debate.
Labor Force Data for the City of L.A. Population: 3.88 million (By 2017 the share of residents aged 65 years and older will increases to 12.2 percent from 6%).
Please find below the beginning of a three part series that will focus on national and local economic trends that have led cities, like Seattle, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., to pass minimum wage increases.
Workers’ Compensation: One of the issues the L.A. Coalition’s and Mayor Garcetti’s Operations Innovation Team will focus on is L.A. City government’s workers’ compensation system.
Welcome to L.A.: Gateway to the USA. Last week L.A. Coalition chair Russell Goldsmith and Coalition members Ted Craver and Chris Martin joined Chance Barnett (CEO and founder of Crowdfunder) in a panel discussion.
In 2014 the U.S. economy grew by 2.4%, a slight acceleration over the 2.0% growth in 2013. California’s economy grew by 2.9% in 2014, also an improvement over the 2012 to 2013 growth.