December 2016 | Page 2 of 5

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California faces revenue surplus, persistent debt

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

CalWatchdog Morning Read – December 28

CalWatchdog Staff December 28, 2016

New laws going in effect Gun sales on the rise Life expectancy plateau is good news for pensions Oakland for decades failed to inspect illegally converted warehouses like Ghost Ship Sierra Nevada snowpack below average Good morning. Happy Hump Day.

Bad news for U.S. is good news for CalPERS, CalSTRS

Chris Reed December 27, 2016

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has not had a good 2016. Its investment returns were microscopic, it faced sharp criticism from a prominent financial website for alleged unethical behavior and Gov. Jerry Brown had to intervene to prevent the nation’s largest

Raft of new state laws are going – or have gone – into effect

Steven Greenhut December 27, 2016

SACRAMENTO – California Gov. Jerry Brown signed 898 bills into law last year. Most start on Jan. 1, but others going into effect in coming years. The majority of new laws deal with minutiae that’s unlikely to affect most residents, but a number

State forces Uber to stop testing self-driving vehicles

Chris Reed December 23, 2016

Uber’s defiance of a California Department of Motor Vehicles’ demand that the pioneering transit company stop testing its self-driving Volvo sport-utility vehicles in San Francisco ended Wednesday when the DMV revoked the vehicles’ registrations, making them illegal to operate on

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CalWatchdog Staff December 22, 2016

CalWatchdog thanks you for your loyal readership. Because of your support, we remain California’s top-ranked political blog and investigative news site. With the proliferation of fake news and the media bias that is continually called out, supporting CalWatchdog could not

CA secessionists raise eyebrows with Russia ties

James Poulos December 22, 2016

The campaign to place California secession on the ballot next election year entered uncertain waters as news broke that its mastermind lives and works in a city in the center of Russia. “I immigrated to California, and I consider

Rohrabacher threatens UC federal funding over “sanctuary” policies

Matt Fleming December 21, 2016

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher last week warned UC President Janet Napolitano that the system’s sanctuary campus polices could jeopardize federal funding for research. The Costa Mesa Republican denounced a recent announcement from UC that campus police would not be cooperating with federal officials

CA water policy: Will House GOP demand more change?

Chris Reed December 20, 2016

The California water compromise reached by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-San Francisco, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, and inserted into the massive infrastructure bill that was signed into law last week was trumpeted as a hard-fought victory for Central

CalPERS considers – then rejects – efforts to end tobacco divestment

Steven Greenhut December 20, 2016

SACRAMENTO – As the nation’s largest state-based pension fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System is known for using its massive investment muscle to promote various social-investment causes. So-called ESGs – Environmental, Social and Governance issues – are a major