News/Blog

Firm Updates and Announcements

AB 5 and Proposition 22 Discussion

SacTown Talks welcomed Tom Sheehy back for an in-depth discussion of AB 5 and this year’s legislative changes to the law. The discussion starts with background: the 2018 CA Supreme Court’s Dynamex decision and Assemblymember Gonzalez’s introduction of AB 5. Then they discuss the changes and carve-outs that happened in the fall of 2019, including an intriguing part where a senator pulled their own bill, which doesn’t often happen.

Read More
Tom Sheehy
Pension Debt A Ticking Time Bomb in California

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s new administration in Sacramento has negotiated pay raises with two-thirds of California state Workers. The administration says this is justified because of record budget surpluses and $20 billion in rainy day fund reserves. What isn’t being discussed so much is that the top one percent (1%) of taxpayers in this state control over 35% of the state general fund revenues which total $146 billion. 

Read More
Will CARB Regulations Result In A CA Air Conditioner Trash Heap?

The California Air Resources Board (CARB), an agency within Cal-EPA, is tasked with developing and implementing regulations and strategies to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) 40% below 1990 levels by the year 2030. They have broad regulatory power to implement rules and regulations in order to meet this mandate granted by AB 32 in 2006 and then SB 32 in 2016. Legislation (SB 1013) by then state senator Ricardo Lara requires CARB to initiate an aggressive hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) reduction program as part of its fight on short-lived, but highly powerful, climate pollutants.

Read More
Will California Ban New Natural Gas Appliance Installations Across the State?

Most Californians LOVE their gas stove, furnace and other gas appliances. Why? Because they perform superbly, are economical and there are hundreds of models to choose from in the marketplace. However, if California regulators at the Cal-EPA and Air Resources Board get their way, gas appliance may become a thing of the past in California.

Read More