CalWatchdog Morning Read – January 12

12 Jan, 2017 by CalWatchdog Staff

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Minimum wage savings for the state mean multi-million dollar burden for counties
Foreclosures shrink to 11-year low
Brown withholds school bond funds without oversight plan in place
Planned Parenthood worried about Washington
42 percent of state out of drought

Good morning. TGIT. We have some good news and some bad news.

The good news: Last year’s deal to increase the minimum wage won’t cost the state nearly as much as was projected.

The bad news: Providing certain health care services just became way more expensive for counties.

The Brown administration is ending a program that coordinated care for seniors and low-income families because it was no longer cost effective. As a result, the state will save $626 million this year, forcing counties to pick up the check.

CalWatchdog has more.

In other news:

Foreclosures: “New housing data show foreclosure activity in California dropped to an 11-year low in 2016. But the state is still working through a backlog of homes purchased with bad loans during the last housing bubble.” Capital Public Radio has more.
School bond oversight: “Gov. Jerry Brown, who last year registered deep skepticism about the $9 billion statewide school construction bond, is withholding the proceeds until the Legislature approves more rigorous independent auditing procedures.” The Sacramento Bee has more.
Battle with the feds: “California is friendly territory, but a national defunding push worries Planned Parenthood,” writes the Los Angeles Times.
Drought: “A year ago this week, only 3 percent of the state was classified as not being in drought conditions. But now because of this winter’s soaking, 42 percent is.” The San Jose Mercury News has more.