Where does the project stand?

Republican tax negotiators are targeting a corporate tax rate of 20 percent, according to two people familiar with the matter. That would be higher than President Donald Trump wants — setting up a key decision for the president on a top legislative priority.

Trump has called for cutting the corporate rate to 15 percent, down from 35 percent. The plan he’ll see this week is also expected to recommend cutting the top individual tax rate to 35 percent, down from 39.6 percent, two people familiar with the matter said.

Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have said previously that they didn’t want the tax plan to offer any tax cut to the highest earners — and that they’d balance a rate cut by eliminating deductions that the wealthy use to reduce their tax bills. Mnuchin said in November, weeks after Trump’s election, that “there will be no absolute tax cut for the upper class.”

Reminded of that on Sunday, Mnuchin said: “It was never a promise and it was never a pledge.” But he said again during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the tax plan that’s coming this week will be “getting rid of lots of deductions.”

“The current plan — for many, many people, it will not reduce taxes on the high end,” Mnuchin said. He also said the plan will provide a middle-income tax cut and said it will create jobs.

Mnuchin didn’t mention specific tax rates. Nor did Marc Short, the White House legislative affairs director, during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.” “The president will have to sign off on that, and he’ll make his announcement on Wednesday,” Short said.

Trump plans a trip to Indiana on Wednesday for a speech on tax issues, a person familiar with the planning said. The White House and congressional Republican leaders are preparing for a push in the next few months to pass tax legislation. The drive follows a series of defeats since Trump’s inauguration, including their failure so far to repeal Obamacare. Cutting the corporate tax rate is one of Trump’s core principles for an overhaul.

While members of Trump’s own administration have suggested Trump’s position on the corporate rate might be subject to compromise, the president may yet resist a plan with a rate higher than 15 percent, one person familiar with the matter said.

The people asked not to be identified because details of the tax plan and Trump’s schedule have not been announced. Trump said Friday night during a rally in Huntsville, Alabama, that a tax plan would be released this week, and described it as “massive tax cuts.”

The effect of such cuts on the $20 trillion federal debt remain to be seen. Last week, a pair of key Republican senators reached an agreement on the framework for a 2018 budget resolution that’s expected to allow for a tax cut of $1.5 trillion over 10 years that would add to the deficit — before accounting for any growth or other economic effects of the cuts. Though proponents say tax cuts would stimu- late growth to make up for the shortfall, a budget that allows for deficit-increasing tax cuts would depart from years of GOP support for balanced budgets.

Short said Sunday that Trump’s administration “continues to be committed to making sure we’re being fiscally responsible.” While there may be a shortterm decrease in revenue, he said, tax cuts would “provide growth that we think will bring in more revenue in the long term.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan and other congressional leaders have discussed a corporate tax rate in the low to mid20s. Based on recent discussions, the GOP will probably aim for a rate in the range of 20 to 24 percent, said Ryan Ellis, a Republican tax lobbyist who previously worked as chief tax policy director for Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform.

Ellis said he also expects the so-called “Big Six” negotiators to seek a top individual rate of 35 percent. The Big Six are Mnuchin, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and the chairmen of the congressional tax-writing committees.

Ellis also said he expects the framework will call for doubling the standard deduction claimed by many middle-class tax filers and repealing the estate tax, which applies only to estates worth more than $5.49 million.

It’s unclear how detailed the framework will be — or if it will represent the unified approach the president and GOP leaders have sought.

Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a member of the Big Six, has said that he’ll regard the document as a guide, but his panel won’t be bound by it.

Two major earthquakes in Mexico this month have served as a reminder to Californians. It’s just a matter of time. Seismologists say California is due for a major earthquake within the next few decades. One nightmare scenario predicts roughly 1,800 people killed.

Some steps have been taken to prepare. After the Loma Prieta and Northridge earthquakes, billions of dollars were spent to fortify structures across the state.

But more than a decade after development began on an earthquake early warning system, the project is still years away from full implementation.

In Mexico, which has such a system, sirens went off in the capital city Tuesday about 15 seconds before the major shaking began, providing a precious window to flee to safer ground.

Here’s a look at the plan in California.

A network of sensors placed near fault lines detect shaking and alert nearby communities through television, radio, phone and other channels.

Modern telecommunications travel faster than seismic waves.

So in essence, the warnings are able to outrun the shaking.

People could get anywhere from a few seconds to more than a minute of warning, depending on the intensity of the quake and the distance from its epicenter.

That poses a crucial caveat: If a big quake kicks off right near a city, the alerts might not do much good.

Roughly 500 earthquake sensors are already in the ground. Another 500 or so need to be placed.

Jennifer Strauss, from the UC Berkeley Seismology Lab, said the warning system — known as ShakeAlert — is being introduced in phases. Some transit and emergency agencies are already linked up.

What’s taking so long?

Mexico created its warning system after more than 5,000 people died in the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. The devastating Kobe earthquake of 1995 prompted Japan to add one as well.

“If we had a major damaging earthquake in California, we too would magically find, not only the capital investment, but the will,” Strauss said.

Even now, California’s program isn’t a sure thing. President Donald Trump’s budget called for ending its federal funding.

Congressio n al members of both parties have pushed back. Mark Ghilarducci, director of California’s office of emergency services, said getting the system in place is a major priority for the state.

“It’s a life-saving thing,” he said last week.

“If you just look at the images from Mexico City, being able to get under cover, cover and hold, get to a safe zone, that’s really phenomenal.”