Posts From Matt Fleming
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Matt Fleming
Fee increases at air quality regulator fund expensive trips and more while consumer costs rise
Not even a month after sending two dozen people on a pricey trip to New Orleans, a member of the board of directors of the Bay Area’s air quality regulator boasted that the agency was “flush” with cash. In July, the
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Does the Secure Choice state-run retirement plan guarantee against taxpayer bailouts?
Arguably the biggest selling point for Secure Choice — the state-run, automatic retirement account measure signed into law last month — is the promise that taxpayers won’t be on the hook in the event of a loss. The law has several
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State-run retirement program may massively expand federal equivalent
State officials in charge of implementing a new state-run retirement program are considering using the federal MyRA program temporarily, which would be a big boon to President Barack Obama’s struggling initiative. The MyRA program is one of a few possibilities being
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Despite $59.7 million error, key Prop 30 education account gets OK’d in audit
A key provision from a 2012 ballot measure that taxed top incomes to fund education was recently given a clean bill of health by the state controller’s office, just in time for voters to consider a 12-year extension of the program. The
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Former GOP congressman laying gubernatorial groundwork to avoid mistakes of 2016
Former Republican Congressman Tom Campbell is laying the groundwork for an unspecified Republican candidate in the 2018 gubernatorial race, hoping to avoid what happened in this cycle’s U.S. Senate race where no Republican candidate advanced to the general election. Campbell,
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The San Diego Union-Tribune endorses a Democrat for president, first time ever
For the first time in its 148-year history, The San Diego Union-Tribune endorsed a Democrat for president — Hillary Clinton. San Diego has historically been a reliably Republican county, although Democrats have surpassed Republicans in voter registration, currently holding a
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Measure curbing “policing for profit” signed by Gov. Brown
A bill reining in abuse of civil asset forfeiture laws by law enforcement agencies was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday, marking a significant victory for advocates of civil liberties. The measure narrows a loophole allowing local law enforcement agencies to
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Gov. Brown OKs state-run retirement plan
Starting around 2018, most workers in California will be automatically enrolled in a private retirement account run by the state. Through a legislative measure, signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday, most workers in the state who don’t have access to an
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Southern California school district paid absentee trustees against state, district policy through loophole
Trustees of the El Monte Union High School District have been drawing monthly stipends even when they haven’t attended board meetings, possibly violating state and internal policies. CalWatchdog found at least nine instances since 2015 where stipends were paid despite absences, although a loose interpretation
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Tobacco-tax fact checks miss the mark
Twice now we’ve seen fact-checkers panning the anti-tobacco tax campaign’s claim in a radio ad that Prop. 56, an increase of $2 per pack on cigarettes and other tobacco and nicotine products, “cheats schools out of at least $600 million
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