Late last month, a state panel voted in favor of raising the pay for Gov. Gavin Newsom, legislators, and other elected officials by four percent. The state Citizens Compensation Commission approved the increase in pay and justified it by citied the booming economy in the state and its big budget surplus. The pay for legislators […]

In late February, a nonpartisan report from the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) claimed that an account used to fund 95 percent of California’s Department of Motor Vehicles’ expenses will soon become insolvent. LAO predicts that the $3.9 billion Motor Vehicle Account will collapse in a few years, which will affect funds for the California […]

Last month, an online financial website called WalletHub released a study that looked at which of the 50 states gave taxpayers the biggest return on their investment (ROI). In the study, taxpayer dollars are seen as an investment into the state and it turns out that California is nowhere near the top of the list. […]

It took all of 24 hours and the “Democrats have already proposed tens of billions of dollars in new state spending.”   In the first day of the legislative session Monday, Democrats introduced more than 100 bills that contained more than $40 billion in proposed new spending.    The Sacramento Bee reports that, one of […]

U.S. News & World Report released a study ranking the best states in the nation and the rankings weren’t too kind to California, especially when it comes to the quality of life in the state. The Best States ranking is part of an annual study that scores all 50 states on the following eight categories: […]

Carolyn Cherry’s commute seems extreme, but it’s a sacrifice she continues to make so that her children have a home to live in. Carolyn, who is 60 years old and near retirement, commutes about six hours a day from her home in Hemet, to her job in Downtown Los Angeles as a clerical worker, and […]

In 2014, voters passed an initiative that forced lawmakers to save money in flush years. It turns out that California’s budget reserves are approaching a point to where the state, by law, can’t save any more money. The state is on pace to fill the reserves with $13.5 billion by July 1, 2019, but some […]

Last month, Philip Alston, the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, stated at a news conference in Washington D.C., among other things, that Los Angeles is lagging behind other cities in attacking homelessness. The Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the Human Rights Council to examine and report back […]

In October, the annual USC Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast was released and its findings aren’t too good for Sothern California residents. Apparently, rents will keep rising over the next two years because the supply of apartments is tight and not enough new housing is being built. In Los Angeles County, the average monthly rents […]

According to a report released this year by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and American Student Assistance, crushing student debt is further driving down homeownership in cities such as Los Angeles that are already facing high costs and low inventory. The report shows that the typical student debt load is around $41,000, which is […]