Group slams California business climate + AAPI Change Makers + Valero profits soar
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CALIFORNIA: FOURTH LARGEST ECONOMY, THIRD WORST BUSINESS CLIMATE
Via David Lightman...
California’s business tax climate ranks third-worst in the nation. Just like last year and the year before that.
That’s the conclusion of the Tax Foundation, a Washington research group that annually ranks states on the state of their taxes.
New York and New Jersey rank 49th and 50th, and the District of Columbia tied with California for 48th. Wyoming has the best climate.
Gov. Gavin Newsom likes to boast California is a better place to live and work than Texas and Florida.
The business tax climate rankings put Florida fourth and Texas 13th. Their standings are aided by the absence of an individual income tax.
States in the bottom 10 have several things in common, notably what the report called complex taxes with relatively high rates.
California’s top income tax rate of 13.3% is the nation’s highest. And motorists pay some of the nation’s highest taxes on gasoline and motor fuel.
The state’s corporate rate is 8.84%, trailing New Jersey, at 11.5%, as well as Pennsylvania, Iowa, Minnesota, Alaska and Maine.
Also pushing California towards the bottom is its sales tax. The 7.25% state sales tax, plus local add-ons, are the nation’s highest. Next are Indiana, Mississippi, Rhode Island, and Tennessee, all at 7%.
THE SACRAMENTO BEE UNVEILS ITS TOP 25 AAPI CHANGE MAKERS
The Sacramento Bee is proud to honor its top 25 Asian American Pacific Islander Change Makers.
The list, a partnership between The Bee and the Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program, looks to recognize people in the AAPI community who are making positive changes in the fields of medicine, science, policy, economy, education, art and advocacy.
This marks the second Change Makers list from The Bee’s Equity Lab; in 2021-22, The Bee honored the top 25 Black Change Makers.
So who made the list? Plenty of names you’ll recognize.
There’s outgoing California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, the first Asian American and the second woman to hold that post.
There’s Annie V. Lam, founder of the Lam Consulting Group and executive director of the California API Legislative Caucus Institute.
There’s Rep. Doris Matsui, Sacramento’s long-serving Congresswoman. And Jodi Hicks, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
And there’s Maheen Ahmed, who was the first Muslim legislative director for the California Assembly before joining Rob Bonta at the Attorney General’s Office.
VALERO PROFITS SOARED AMID GAS PRICE HIKES, NEWSOM SAYS
Gov. Newsom on Tuesday took the occasion to make his case for why California should tax oil and gas company windfall profits when lawmakers reconvene for a special session this December.
That case: The fact that as Californians were sweating it at the pump, Valero made $463 million more between July and September than it did during that period the year prior. That’s an increase of more than 500%.
“Big oil is ripping Californians off, hiking gas prices and making record profits. As Valero jacked up their profits by over 500% in just a year, Californians were paying for it at the pump instead of passing down those savings,” Newsom said in a statement. “That’s why we’re taking action to implement a price gouging penalty to put these profits back in the pockets of Californians.”
The governor pointed to action that he has taken to try and alleviate the price pain of gassing up, including ordering the switch to the cheaper and more abundant winter blend of gasoline.
Newsom’s proposal has faced criticism from legislative Republicans, who argue that taxing oil companies will only make gasoline more expensive for everyone.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Thank you @adidas for doing the right thing & ending its relationship with Kanye. Threats of antisemitic violence must never be tolerated. Ever.”
- Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, via Twitter.
Best of The Bee:
For some California Latinos, the abortion debate was not a ‘real conversation’ — until now, via Mathew Miranda.
Housing interest group money is pouring into the District 10 Assembly race, filling airwaves and mailboxes in Elk Grove and south Sacramento to influence the Democrat-on-Democrat contest between two local city council members, Eric Guerra and Stephanie Nguyen. The wave of advertising includes a PAC-financed television ad attacking Nguyen that is mostly false, via Lindsey Holden.
One man charged in an unemployment insurance fraud case that prosecutors say collected $1.2 million from California’s troubled Employment Development Department pleaded guilty Tuesday in Sacramento federal court, while a second may plead guilty next week in the case, via Sam Stanton.