CalWatchdog Morning Read – December 29

29 Dec, 2016 by CalWatchdog Staff

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Short-term pain with ACA repeal
CA wall of debt
Brown taps two top advisors for CPUC posts
Former Lt. Gov. for Trump’s agriculture secretary?
New disclosure rules show greater detail of lobbyists’ influence

Good morning! TGIT. Republicans in Washington appear poised to repeal the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, some time after Donald Trump is sworn in as president.

With premiums on the rise and consistently poor polling, repeal is music to the ears of many, as evidenced by every federal election since the measure was passed in 2010. But California would suffer major economic consequences if Congress repeals the ACA without an adequate replacement, according to a new study by the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

A partial repeal (as a full repeal still seems out of reach) would cause Californians to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in annual federal funding and kick millions out of coverage. Some of the losses would be offset by gains elsewhere, but it’s impossible to give a complete analysis of the offsetting effects without Republicans’ replacement plan.

CalWatchdog has more.

In other news:

Budget: “California’s state auditors recently released an unflattering look at the state’s finances, part of their annual report. Issued several years in arrears, the assessment showed nearly $2 billion in deficit spending for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, piling more borrowed money onto what Gov. Jerry Brown has called a figurative ‘wall of debt.’” CalWatchdog has more.
CPUC: “Gov. Jerry Brown has chosen two of his closest advisors on environmental and climate change issues to fill positions on the California Public Utilities Commission, the powerful state agency that regulates energy companies and the telecommunications industry.” The Los Angeles Times has more.
Trump Transition: “Abel Maldonado, California’s former lieutenant governor, the Central Coast’s former assemblymember and state senator, and Santa Maria’s former mayor, was in Florida on Wednesday, reportedly interviewing with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss a possible appointment as Secretary of Agriculture.” Santa Barbara Independent has more.
Lobbying: The Sacramento Bee looks at how a top Democratic donor pushed a major environmental bill through the Legislature.