Could California launch "its own damn satellite"?

I’d say that your cite was fairly neutral; it’s just that the headline is easy to read negatively. Nevertheless, it contains this line:

The Franchise Tax Board says it received input from the private space companies on the proposed rules, which largely resemble a draft submitted by SpaceX, perhaps the industry’s most recognizable company. SpaceX, which is headquartered in Hawthorne (Los Angeles County), declined to comment.

Clearly, if the proposal resembles a draft submitted by one of the major companies, it can’t be too bad. Industry likes to lower risk and reducing an area of financial/legal uncertainty achieves those goals. It’s likely that the actual tax will be nominal.