California Budget Project

CBP Executive Director Jean Ross spoke to the news media on the Governor's proposals to narrow the budget gap and recommended a carefully targeted tax increase on higher-income households.

Payday Loans Only Will Dig You Deeper Into Debt

With interest and fees, the cost of repeated payday loans adds up to an annual percentage rate of more than 400 percent, according to the California Budget Project. Modesto Bee, November 17, 2008

CBP Executive Director Jean Ross spoke to the news media on the Governor's proposals to narrow the budget gap and recommended a carefully targeted tax increase on higher-income households.

Latinos Driving Growth in US

California Budget Project researchers estimate that the state's Hispanic population will increase by 65 percent in the next 12 years while its non-Hispanic white population will grow by only 2.3 percent. Contra Costa Times October 24, 2008

Budget Cuts Hurt Working Families, Elderly

Jean Ross of the California Budget Project said those individuals won't receive a cost of living adjustment. "The added food cost, fuel cost, everything that's going up, they won't see their incomes rise to keep pace with that increase," Ross said. KCRA-TV, October 15, 2008

Believe It or Not, We're Living in a "Moderate Tax" State

Based on total state and local revenues as a percentage of all personal income, California ranked 17th (out of 50, for the very remedial among us,) according to the California Budget Project using figures from 2005-2006, the most recent period available for comprehensive state revenue data comparisons. San Jose Mercury News Blog, Docu-Drama, October 14, 2008

A new CBP Budget Brief provides an overview of Propositions 1A and 3, which will appear on the November ballot and would authorize a total of $10.9 billion in general obligation bonds.

In a new analysis, the CBP finds that California ranks 17th compared to other states in state and local government revenues when calculated as a share of personal income.

The Party's Over; Now Comes the Big Cleanup

The boom in California since 2000 was based on housing-related jobs (the home mortgage industry and construction). Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project, notes that 60 percent of California's job growth from 2000 to 2006 was housing-related. Sacramento Bee, October 13, 2008

What Does 'Live Within Your Means' Mean Today?

"In a way, it was like people were using the equity in their homes like income from a second job," said Jean Ross, who heads the California Budget Project, an economic think tank in Sacramento. "But when the price of homes declined, it was as if they just got laid off." San Diego Union Tribune, October 5, 2008

Economic Experts Talk to Both Sides of Crisis

The San Francisco Chronicle recently asked Executive Director Jean Ross and other economic opinion leaders: "Should taxpayers prop up the financial sector? And, if not, what's the alternative?" San Francisco Chronicle, October 1, 2008

The Economy is Impacting People on the Central Coast

Analysts from a non-profit group called the California Budget Project in Sacramento released a report warning residents to beware of lenders offering quick cash with high interest rates. KCOY-TV, September 30, 2008

Payday lenders provide short-term, high-cost loans that lead to chronic borrowing by low- and moderate-income Californians. A new CBP chartbook provides an overview of payday lending in California, new legislative district maps show where payday lenders are located, and technical notes provide key explanations. In addition, a CBP analysis raises concerns with two payday lending reports released by the Department of Corporations.

A new CBP publication summarizes the 2008-09 spending plan signed by the Governor on September 23.

Schwarzenegger, Top Legislators Reach a Budget Deal

Jean Ross, executive director of the nonprofit California Budget Project, said the new provisions "are no less gimmicky than the withholding increases they replaced." Los Angeles Times, September 19, 2008

California Budget Impasse: Not Over 'Til It's Over

"They are cuts that will touch every Californian," says Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project, a left-leaning budget analysis center. "These are deep cuts to education, deep cuts to healthcare, deep cuts to social service programs, deep cuts to public transit." Christian Science Monitor, September 17, 2008

End May Be in Sight for California Budget Standoff

"I think we are seeing a level of tricks, gimmicks and borrowing that is potentially unprecedented," said the executive director of the nonpartisan California Budget Project. New York Times, September 16, 2008

Budget Approved Despite Governor's Threatened Veto

"This is not additional money (for the state), it's simply moving the date when the money would come in," said Jean Ross, executive director of California Budget Project. San Francisco Chronicle, September 16, 2008

Budget Plan a Mixed Bag for Valley

"It narrows loopholes now and then gives away the store on the back end," said Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project. San Jose Mercury News, September 16, 2008

Are Californians Overtaxed? It's Not an Open-and-Shut Case

California's state and local tax burden is closer to average nationally. We rank 18th in total taxes and fees based on a percentage of personal income, according to the nonpartisan, but left-leaning, California Budget Project in Sacramento. Los Angeles Times, September 11, 2008