How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Business News
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Insurance
Assembly Bill 2634, authored by Assemblyman Ed Chau (D-Arcadia), will give consumers more time to react to cost increases in their Flexible Premium Life Insurance policy.
"AB 2634 provides consumers with better and more complete information about the effect of insurer cost increases which in turn can result in premium increases in their life insurance policies,” said Jones. "Allowing consumers, especially seniors, more time to make informed decisions about their policies and any premium increase will help them avoid a reduction in policy values or a possible lapse of the policy. I thank the governor for signing this bill and Assemblymember Chau for championing it in the Legislature."
The Legislature heard from consumers who had personally been affected by extremely high "cost of insurance" increases that led to the loss of their policy, which they had been paying premium on for years.
These consumers, along with many others, received little or no notice from their insurers when their policy charges doubled, tripled or quadrupled almost overnight. In one case the increase was 672 percent.
Unfortunately, these stories are not unique. The California Department of Insurance has received thousands of complaints on this topic, mainly from distressed seniors, relating to the significant increases in the insurers costs which in turn are charged against the policy and erode the policy value and/or result in increased premiums.
Under current law, insurers are required to provide each policy owner with an annual report on the status of the policy. However, the annual report does not tell the policy owner when increases in costs and expenses are about to occur.
These increases often, over time, completely consume the cash value of the life insurance policy, eventually rendering it worthless.
As a result, consumers are unable to make informed decisions about their policies, which often require substantial payments on very short notice to keep them from lapsing.
AB 2634 requires an insurer to provide at least 90 days notice before any increase in the cost of insurance applies to consumers. The bill also requires the insurer to generally provide an illustration showing the impact on the policy values and necessary premium payments before and after the increase.
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Food and Agriculture
More than $72 million was awarded nationwide.
The SCBGP provides grants to state departments of agriculture to fund projects that enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops, defined as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture).
The California Department of Food and Agriculture will fund 83 projects, awarding grants ranging from $25,000 to $300,000, at nonprofit and for-profit organizations, government entities, and colleges and universities.
Selected through a competitive process, these projects focus on increasing sales of specialty crops by leveraging the California Grown identity; increasing consumption by expanding the specialty crop consumer market, improving availability, and providing nutritional education for consumers; training growers to equip them for current and future challenges; and conducting research on conservation and environmental outcomes, pest control and disease, and organic and sustainable production practices.
Additionally, CDFA solicited fixed-amount awards to fund projects that address the priority to assist California specialty crop growers, farmers, producers, and manufacturers in adopting the requirements of and meeting the standards for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act.
CDFA continued its partnership with the Center for Produce Safety in the evaluation and recommendation of food safety related projects.
These projects represent an ongoing effort to address food safety practices and minimize outbreaks of foodborne illness with proactive research.
The 2018 SCBGP project abstracts are available online at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/grants.
- Details
- Written by: Clearlake Tractor Supply
From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., local farmers, crafters and artisans will be onsite selling homemade and homegrown goods at the store located at 15930 Dam Road.
According to store manager Vernon Parker, there's no better way to celebrate the fall harvest season in the Clearlake area.
"Farmers markets are a great way to highlight skills, foster community relationships and support neighbors," said Parker. "We are excited to provide a platform for our customers to showcase their homemade and homegrown goods."
Local goods for sale will be displayed in tented areas in front of the store. Participating vendors include:
– Bee Heaven: On site 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
– Sudsy Lady: On site 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
– Glass Fusion: On site 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Contact the Clearlake Tractor Supply store at 707-995-5060 for more information or details about participating in the event.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
The new report, “Energy Efficiency Jobs in America 2018,” finds energy efficiency workers now outnumber elementary and middle school teachers, and are nearly double the number of Americans who work in law enforcement.
“This good news buoys us beyond politics to unite a focus on the positive,” said Steve Cowell, president of E4TheFuture. “We have long known that energy efficiency is a major source of jobs, and by conservative estimates, about one in every hundred U.S. adults now works in energy efficiency. Efficiency is also a key strategy for meeting multiple policy objectives. It saves money, improves health, lowers carbon emissions and creates local jobs that cannot be outsourced.”
The report highlights energy efficiency’s growing economic importance. Efficiency added 67,000 net jobs in 2017, making it the fastest-growing job category in the energy sector.
Energy efficiency employs twice as many workers as all fossil fuel industries combined. Efficiency workers now account for 35 percent of all U.S. energy jobs.
“We all know energy efficiency creates savings for consumers and businesses with every month’s electric bill,” said Bob Keefe, executive director of E2. “We also now know that energy efficiency creates jobs - millions of them - all across America. These are good-paying jobs at your neighborhood construction company, upgrading windows and installing insulation; at your hometown HVAC contractor, installing heat pumps and high-efficiency air conditioners; at your local factory, manufacturing Energy Star appliances and LED lighting systems; and at thousands of related companies nationwide.”
Among the states, California leads energy-efficiency employment with 310,000 jobs, followed by Texas (154,000), New York (117,000), Florida (112,000), and Illinois (87,000).
Seventeen states now employ more than 50,000 workers and the 25 states with the most energy efficiency sector jobs all now employ over 30,000 workers (1.9 million total). Only four states saw a decline in energy efficiency employment in 2017.
With workers in 99.7 percent of U.S. counties, energy efficiency has become a nationwide job engine integral to state and local economic growth.
More than 300,000 energy efficiency jobs are located in America’s rural areas, and 900,000 jobs are found in the nation’s top 25 metro areas. One out of every six U.S. construction workers are involved in energy efficiency, as are more than 315,000 manufacturing jobs, according to the report.
More detailed breakdowns of energy efficiency jobs for all 50 states and the District of Columbia – including job totals for every state’s congressional and legislative district, and maps of each state’s top counties — can be found at http://e2.org/eejobsamerica . See a set of FAQs about the report.
Other key findings:
– 11 percent of energy efficiency jobs are held by veterans, nearly double the national average for veterans’ share of employment (6%);
– In 40 states and the District of Columbia, more Americans work in energy efficiency than work with fossil fuels;
– Construction and manufacturing make up over 70% of U.S. energy efficiency jobs;
– More than 1 million energy efficiency jobs are in heating, ventilation, and cooling technologies;
– Energy efficiency employers are expecting 9% job growth in 2018;
– Energy efficiency now employs workers in 3,000 of America’s 3,007 counties;
– Small businesses are driving America’s energy efficiency job boom, with 79 percent of energy efficiency businesses employing fewer than 20 workers.
The report follows E2’s Clean Jobs America analysis, which found that clean energy employment accounts for nearly 3.2 million jobs across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Both reports expand on the 2018 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER), released in May by former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz’s Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) and the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO). E4TheFuture and E2 were partners on the USEER.