
Jerry Brown Proposes Record $123 Billion California Budget
California Governor Jerry Brown proposed a $123 billion general-fund spending plan for the next fiscal year, a 6 percent increase over the current budget and the largest ever as state coffers overflow with surging tax revenue.

How Do We Empower Our Innovators?
Collaboration between feeders and leaders is essential to the Capital Region’s innovation economy
I’ve been thinking a lot about a 3-year-old book in recent days- — even more so in the aftermath of the recent study mission to Chicago. The book is Brad Feld’s Startup Communities — a how-to manual for building vibrant, connected communities of innovative companies and entrepreneurs.

Budget-Busting Childcare Costs Are Talk of U.S. Campaign Trail
Policy makers are responding to the cries of parents who are forced to choose between paying childcare bills, which have climbed more than twice as fast as overall inflation since the end of 1990, or foregoing work. The soaring costs crowd out other forms of household spending, distorting the biggest part of the U.S. economy.

The Helping Hand
Senator Holly Mitchell says a level playing field is the mission behind most of her measures
California State Senator Holly Mitchell can be an imposing figure. While most people presume that term evokes physicality, it is Mitchell’s intellect and passion for defending those she believes have little or no voice in the political process that make her such a formidable figure around the Capitol. We talked with her about her effort to turn that passion into policy.

San Francisco Voters Reject Ballot Measure to Curb Airbnb
Airbnb fought off a San Francisco ballot measure that sought to limit the short-stay rental service in its hometown, an effort to contain housing costs that some say has made the city a playground for well-heeled techies.

It’s Still About the Economy, Stupid
Sen. Holly Mitchell on race, law and legislating change
Most people look at the civil unrest recently seen in places like Ferguson and Baltimore as strictly a matter of law and order. But to California state Sen. Holly Mitchell, those events are the inevitable result of a long-simmering frustration within much of the African-American community — not only at what they see as heavy-handed treatment of young black men by police, but of a general shortage of economic opportunities available to communities of color.

Made in America
PASCO Scientific has expanded its business through export opportunities
American-made products are in greater demand internationally, opening up another revenue stream for businesses that want to export. PASCO Scientific, an American manufacturer of lab equipment for hands-on STEM education, has expanded its business through export opportunities.

How West Coast Businesses are (Trying to) Balance a Higher Minimum Wage
In California, higher state and local minimum wages are contributing to some owners’ decisions to sell businesses, said Bob House, general manager of the San Francisco-based brokerage BizBuySell. The company listed 2,296 businesses for sale in metropolitan Los Angeles between March and June, compared with 2,136 in the same period a year earlier.

Super-Earners Targeted in California Tax Push as Revenue Surges
Governor Jerry Brown convinced voters in 2012 they had to raise taxes if they wanted to avoid Draconian cuts to schools. It was temporary, he said. Now, as state coffers are heavy with surplus revenue, advocacy groups and organized labor want to keep the levies in place.