Sacramento County Business, Economy & Jobs Digest

LowBrau’s Slow and Low Smokehouse, Elk Grove’s future barbecue restaurant and bar, took a step closer to its completion thanks to the City Council’s recent approval of a $500,000 loan deal.

Breaking from over a decade of traditionally not raising tuition for its students, Cal State leaders on Thursday released a proposal that would start annual increases in fall 2024. They say it’s the only way to make up a shortfall between operating costs and revenues.

Despite an overall slowdown in the real estate market, demand for new homes in the Sacramento region remains strong. More than 550 new homes were sold in May, led by robust sales in Roseville, Folsom and Elk Grove.

California health officials say granting the licenses prevents the eviction of hundreds of residents from their homes and provides oversight provisions, including a two-year monitoring period.

After several years of devastating wildfires, California lawmakers want to give hefty raises to Cal Fire firefighters. The deal could tie the governor’s hands in contracts.

The Sacramento Police Department can soon begin fining people who illegally grow cannabis on commercial properties and vacant lots after the Sacramento City Council voted 8-1 on Tuesday to update cultivation policies.

Climate activists and some lawmakers want two of California’s pension funds to shed about $15 billion of fossil fuel holdings. They say the move would reduce oil and gas companies’ political power, but opponents say it would be a bad move financially.

Environmentalists and project proponents agree: Infrastructure bills crafted by legislators and Newsom are a good compromise to streamline development. The package aims to speed up lawsuits for solar farms, reservoirs and other infrastructure, and relax protection of some species.

Lake Tahoe saw a huge surge in visitors at the beginning of the pandemic. The North Tahoe Community Alliance, which serves as the region’s chamber of commerce, looks to address the resulting problems, such as overcrowding, garbage and traffic.

The Salt & Straw ice cream chain is part of the upcycling movement, creating high-quality products from leftover food with flavors like Cacao Pulp & Chocolate Stracciatella Gelato, made from leftover cacao pulp from chocolate production.

An obscure 1910s-era labor board once regulated everything from canneries to film sets to sheep farms. Why is California trying to bring it back now?

Corporate reports would reveal top polluters and climate-related financial risks. But companies warn about faulty data and a “gold-plated exercise” if the two bills become law.

A new tenant is planning to occupy a long-vacant corner suite at Stock Ranch Plaza by opening a sandwich franchise.

Federal regulators launched a legal attack on Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion takeover of video game maker Activision Blizzard by depicting it as an anticompetitive weapon. Microsoft says the deal will make popular games more widely available at cheaper prices.

Anchored Eats was so successful on the water, its owners brought it to land. A “food boat” floating on Folsom Lake and Lake Natoma over the last couple of summers, it opened as a brick-and-mortar restaurant at Granite Bay Main Beach.

U.S. regulators approved the sale of chicken made from animal cells, allowing two California companies to offer “lab-grown” meat to restaurant tables and eventually, supermarket shelves.

Most of what Californians experience with homelessness occurs along public spaces and city streets. But what happens when a city council member loses her home? Ojai’s Suza Francina is finding out.

The spending change would prioritize housing for homeless people, which children's mental health advocates fear will cut their funding.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1655 in 2022, which allowed state employees to elect to use their existing eight hours of holiday credit in lieu of receiving eight hours of personal holiday credit for Juneteenth. The labor union for state employees, SEIU Local 1000, instead wants to make Juneteenth a state paid holiday.

Partly because of two new funding sources—Measure E sales tax revenue and new casino mitigation funding—the fiscal year budget is $55 million more than the previous year’s adopted budget. The increase also includes capital project funding carry-overs.

After California’s largest home insurance provider said it wouldn’t issue new policies, consumer and insurance industry groups have ideas for what they’d like to see California do. Here’s how the debate over four of those ideas shakes out.

California’s state budget is the product of a multi-month, multi-step process that involves the governor, the Legislature, lobbyists, interest groups and the public. Here are the key dates along the way.

Democratic leaders in the Legislature unveiled their California budget agreement, but Gov. Newsom must sign off for a final deal. There are some significant differences with what Newsom proposed in May.

The state’s 2023-24 budget has been subject to a lot of political wrangling this year as California faces a $31.5 billion spending gap. The constant push and pull of balancing the budget means that if one program, agency or proposal receives funding, something else could lose out. The Legislature is expected to pass its budget [...]

Last year, California created a $500 million program to help prepare students for careers. With the state facing a $31.5 billion budget deficit, lawmakers want to claw back $400 million of the program.

Californians accused of crimes spend an average of five days waiting to see a lawyer. Shortening that time can help them keep their jobs, and spend less time in jail.

Plans are in place for a 28-story hotel tower adjacent to the Sacramento Convention Center. The new hotel will be constructed on a parking lot at the corner of 15th and K streets and will rival the nearby Sheraton Grand as the tallest hotel in the city.

California’s economy should perform better than the nation’s in the months and years ahead, a new UCLA Anderson state forecast finds. But since economists are uncertain about the near future, UCLA’s semi-annual forecast offered two scenarios—recession and no recession.

More than one-third of California families can’t attain basic needs, according to a new study from the United Ways of California. Black and Latino families, immigrant-led households, parents with lower educational attainment and families led by single mothers all struggle disproportionately.

In his May budget revise, Gov. Gavin Newsom pitched spending $250 million on infrastructure and transportation improvements in downtown Fresno. The money will fund much of the city’s decade-long revitalization plans to ultimately attract residential development.

Thousands of Californians who lost work during the pandemic are struggling with debt. A new settlement makes COVID rent relief available to tens of thousands of tenants.

In May, a video featured a young woman named Brooklyn imploring viewers to tell the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation about the importance of EarnIn, part of a relatively new app-based industry that provides cash advances to people based on their wages.