California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB32) requires the state’s major industry sectors to return California’s emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. To pay for AB32’s associated Cap-and-Trade Program, the cost of gasoline and diesel fuels will increase approximately 12 cents per gallon beginning Jan. 1, 2015.

You may have heard about the “internet slowdown” that happened in September. While the term “slowdown” isn’t accurate because the internet was running at full speed, prominent sites like Netflix, Vimeo and Etsy displayed a symbolic loading symbol to protest recent actions by the Federal Communications Commission to eliminate network neutrality.

Network neutrality is the idea that all data should be treated equally no matter who is sending it. The U.S. government is trying to decide if it’s OK for ISPs to create more lanes, then charge content providers a higher fee for traveling down the fast ones. Here’s why the service providers say this is a good idea:

California’s business climate is well-known for being unfriendly. CEO Magazine has rated California as the worst state in which to do business for more than eight years running.  Undoing Proposition 13’s provisions, as is currently being proposed, will make a big problem even worse by increasing taxes on the very businesses that create jobs and contribute to our economy.  

I own a design firm, and we regularly employ freelance designers and photographers. Some work for us sporadically and others work for us on a regular basis. What are my responsibilities regarding liability and workers’ compensation?

In May we reported on efforts by Assemblyman Richard Pan, who represents the 9th district covering parts of Sacramento and San Joaquin counties, to curb outsourcing of government projects to the private sector (“Relationship Troubles,” by Russell Nichols, May 2014). Assembly Bill 906, which required all personal service contracts to be approved by the Legislature, went into effect last January. At the time of our story, Pan had proposed an additional package of bills: AB 1574, 1575 and 1578.

Here’s a look at how the bills have progressed:

After all these years since California voters passed Proposition 13, what will it take to have a rational discussion about amending the way commercial property is assessed?

I’ve watched, listened and learned as the debate over Sacramento’s “strong mayor” initiative has progressed over the past several years. Like many people, I was surprised and a little disappointed when Kevin Johnson started advocating for the strong mayor form of government within months of election to his first term.

But this time it’s different.

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has spent much of the past decade looking to enact rate regulations on the health insurance industry, first as an Assemblymember and now as the state’s top insurance regulator. We sat down with him recently to talk about Proposition 45, a November ballot measure he supports that would give him the power to reject health insurance rate hikes.

Unscrupulous vendors are a small part of the so-called shadow economy – the unlicensed contractor for sure, but also a vast black market of businesses, often cash-only, working out of homes or garages, that don’t pay the taxes or licensing fees their competitors do. While profitable for the person getting away with it, this underground economy hits all of us right where it hurts – in the pocketbook.