Blog
Five companies join Family Business Association of California
Recognize need to be part of only statewide group focusing solely on family businesses Five more companies have recently joined the Family Business Association of California, the only statewide organization that solely focuses on the impacts of new laws and...
Jim Dobbas Inc.: 50 years of working on the railroad
When Jim Dobbas incorporated his business, he figured doing so on April 1, 1968, was fitting. “It was April Fool’s Day, but I didn’t care because I didn’t think I was going to make it anyway,” he recalled with a chuckle. Fortunately for California’s railroads, his...
The Age of Austerity Is Over
Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D., GraphsandLaughs, LLC When the Congressional Budget Office made its June 2017 forecast of our fiscal future, it projected a deficit of $689 billion in FY2019. The deficit is now poised to be $1.2 trillion, a dramatic and profound change that is...
FBA Joins Coalition Opposing Huge Tax Increase
The Family Business Association of California is one of the business groups that signed on to the following letter to Assembly Members Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, and Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, opposing their proposal to impose a 10 percent "surcharge" on corporate...
FBA Lobbyist Recaps State of the State, Discusses Business Tax Proposal
By Dennis Albiani, California Advocates Governor Brown delivered his 16th – and final – State of the State address last week, asserting that the “bolder path is still our way forward” on climate change, infrastructure investment, health care, education, and criminal...
FBA scores major victory: State death tax proposal dies
Legislation that would have reinstated the Estate Tax in California if the Federal government repealed the tax died last week. SB 726, by San Francisco Democrat Scott Wiener, would have asked voters to reinstate California's estate tax if the federal government had...
Economic forecast 2018: Like 2017 but slightly better
By Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D., GraphsandLaughs, LLC January 1, 2018 The combination of solid, widespread global growth; strong labor markets; low inflation; improving commodity prices; a slightly weaker dollar; and continued easy monetary policy from most central banks...
2018 California issues in a nutshell
By Robert Rivinius, FBA Executive Director In addition to the FBA priorities for 2018, here are some other issues that will impact businesses and the people of California in the coming year: PAGA – the Private Attorneys General Act has been a disaster for many...
New laws employers need to be aware of
By Dennis Albiani, FBA Legislative Advocate January 2018 California leaders continue to pile requirements on employers. A minimum wage increase, more paid family leave, and more scrutiny in hiring practices are just a few issues that were enacted into law as of Jan....
The Late Great Mortgage Interest Deduction
By Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D., GraphsandLaughs, LLC November 2017 With the possibility of tax reform and tax cuts right around the corner, it is important to understand how the proposed doubling of the standard deduction will impact households and will essentially render...
Eight family businesses join Family Business Association
Eight family-owned businesses have joined the Family Business Association of California in recent months, increasing the strength and effectiveness of the only organization devoted solely to advocating for family businesses in Sacramento. “Now more than ever, family...
Fear Not Robots, Artificial Intelligence, or Algorithms
By Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D. October 2017 Almost daily, we hear that robots, machine learning, and automation will destroy jobs -- and not just a few, but tens of millions of them, and soon! Some experts predict that 47% of all US jobs are at high risk of disappearing...