More states, facing massive budget shortfalls, are reexamining their tax codes in an effort to collect sales taxes from online sellers. The move is generating the greatest response from Amazon.com, the world’s largest online retailer. For years, Amazon collected sales tax in only five states — Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota and Washington —… Continue Reading
Category Archives: State Politics
City of Claremont vs. Golden State Water: Explained
Golden State Water Company, one of the largest privately-owned water companies in California and the primary supplier of water to a number of Southern California cities, and the City of Claremont have recently been engaged in heated discussion over rate increases. As a private company, Golden State Water (GSW) is permitted to submit an application… Continue Reading
John Chiang Visits the Athenaeum
On Monday, September 24th, the Rose Institute and the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum jointly sponsored a talk with California State Controller John Chiang. Chiang spoke of his time as Calfornia’s Chief Fiscal Officer during the late-2000s recession and the difficulties surrounding the handling of public dollars of the ninth-largest economy in the world. The collapse of Wall Street… Continue Reading
Minnesota Finalizes New Congressional Maps
Final court-drawn plans that make minimal changes to current Minnesota congressional districts were released February 21, 2012, following nearly a year of stalemate between DFL Governor Mark Dayton and the Republican-held legislature that failed to produce a mutually agreeable map.
Kentucky Passes Congressional Maps
Kentucky lawmakers reached an agreement over new congressional districts on Friday February 10. The original deadline for the map was January 31, but was extended to February 7. When the already delayed candidate filing deadline passed without a new map, the issue was taken to court on February 9 by attorney Scott White of Lexington. The potential for court-created districts likely spurred lawmakers to pass a plan that many remain unhappy with. The new congressional districts were passed in the House by a vote 58-26, and 29-7 in the Senate.
California Pension Reform: Gov. Brown and Republicans vs. Democrats?
California’s pension problems are well-documented. According to a report by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, the state’s public employee pension system is underfunded by $535 billion. $360 billion would have to be injected into pension and health care benefit systems immediately just to give California an 80 percent chance of meeting 80 percent of the obligations in 16 years.