Archive for June 2026

Special ReportsNovember 19, 2020 VTA’s budget woes and dubious expenditures are all the news, but these are just the latest faceplants for one of the worst-performing transit agencies in the U.S. Randal O’Toole of the Thoreau Institute explores the issue in this exclusive analysis for Opportunity Now. Part 1: A Loser Among Losers The coronavirus…

Retail sales taxes are a major revenue source for most states, accounting for 32 percent of state tax collections and 13 percent of local tax collections (24 percent of combined collections). They are generally considered more pro-growth than income taxes because they introduce fewer economic distortions. Forty-five states levy a state-level sales tax, and 38 states allow local sales…

June 16, 2026 Cory Doctorow from Beautiful Downtown Burbank, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Assembly candidate Carol Pefley calls out the cynicism of many SJ City Council Democrats (like Mayor Mahan) who campaigned on platforms of fiscal responsibility, only to turn into tax-and-spend liberals, as evidenced by their June 16 vote to oppose the Save Prop…

San Jose CM’s Doan, Casey hold out against the city council’s coordinated attack on Prop 13 It’s easy to get swept up in a chorus of tax and spend councilmembers, singing from the same hymnal. But during Tuesday’s 9-2 vote in favor of an anti-Prop 13 memo, Councilmembers George Casey and Bien Doan stayed consistent…