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Pensions push state to insolvency

  FEB. 23, 2010 By TROY ANDERSON As the $17 billion annual taxpayer tab for government employees’ pensions and retiree health care increases at a rate of “several billion dollars” a year, Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach says California is heading for an “economic

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State selling properties to raise cash

Feb. 23, 2010 By KATY GRIMES With the state of California selling off property to raise cash in the face of the $24 billion deficit, 11 office-building complexes are for sale, which will then be leased back to the state for 20

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Silly Bills

Sensitive as I am to the plight of the California legislator during such a difficult economic time, the need to abandon said sensitivity and ask “what are you thinking?” is taking over. Senator Dean Florez has introduced two new bills,

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Auditing the state of our government

Feb. 21, 2010 A new report from the California State Auditor should throw cold water on those who believe that the best way to solve the state’s problems is by expanding government power, increasing government funding and creating new regulatory

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Jobless victims stagger California

Feb. 21, 2010 By JOHN SEILER As state legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger continue to work on the state budget for fiscal year 2010-11, which begins July 1, they will be looking at how their actions affect the entire state

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Assembly, Senate embrace filing rule

Feb. 19, 2010 By ELISE VIEBECK After a unanimous vote by the Assembly this week, a small administrative code revision will absolve state agencies of complying with reporting requirements deemed unnecessary or obsolete. The law, previously approved by a 35-0

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Will Prop. 14 kill third parties?

Feb. 19, 2010 By JOHN SEILER Californians keep tinkering with the state’s elections system. That’s understandable given the low esteem in which Golden State politicians are held. A January 2010 Field Poll found just 16 percent of voters approved of how

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Pat Wiggins' latest outburst

Senator Pat Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, is becoming a very sad story. For at least the last year or so, she’s been suffering from unnamed “medical condition” (the words belong to her aides who, when they do speak about their boss,

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Incentives eyed to spur job growth

Feb. 18, 2010 By KATY GRIMES In spite of the federal stimulus money invested in California, unemployment is still in double digits and will remain so for a couple more years, according to state economic experts. Consequently, talk of jobs

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Jessica's Law flaws debated

Feb. 17, 2010 By ELISE VIEBECK Officials at a Senate hearing yesterday questioned the effectiveness of Jessica’s Law, the 2006 ballot initiative passed to reduce recidivism among paroled sex offenders. Critics say that for all its popularity — the measure

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