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Gov. Brown’s pension plan gets mixed reviews from reformers

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature mostly have avoided tackling the state’s unfunded pension liabilities, even though these taxpayer-backed debts to pay for pension promises to state and local employees have soared by 22 percent in the last

Secure Choice retirement program up against powerful federal law

Chris Reed May 25, 2017

An unprecedented state law meant to create 401(k)-style retirement accounts for millions of private-sector workers in California now faces a daunting obstacle to ever being implemented: one of the most powerful federal laws on the books. Under the state law

Report: Single-payer health care in California would cost double state budget

Steven Greenhut May 23, 2017

SACRAMENTO – During the California Democratic Party convention in Sacramento last weekend, the spiciest news was outgoing chairman John Burton dropping an f-bomb on a group of activists demanding that the party embrace a single-payer health system. It’s not really

Gas tax recall effort for Josh Newman grows

James Poulos May 18, 2017

Perceived as the most vulnerable of the legislative Democrats who passed Gov. Jerry Brown’s gas and vehicle tax package by a razor-thin margin, freshman state Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, faced an intensifying campaign to turn him out of office, potentially

San Francisco sues Uber in battle over driver privacy

Steven Greenhut May 16, 2017

SACRAMENTO – The city of San Francisco filed suit last week against the ride-sharing service Uber after the company filed a motion in court to block the release of a drivers’ personal information. This sets up the latest battle between

Push begins to overturn new California gas tax

James Poulos May 15, 2017

A fresh effort has been launched to reverse Gov. Jerry Brown’s fuel and vehicle tax deal, passed narrowly in Sacramento on the strength of a series of sharply criticized side deals. “Only one Republican – state Sen. Anthony Cannella – voted in favor

Paid to protest the president? Bay Area employees get days off for civic engagement

Drew Gregory Lynch May 12, 2017

While many conservative claims about paid protesters demonstrating against President Trump have been met with skepticism and dismissal — in the Bay Area — some of them might actually be getting money for being there. Companies in the region are

Auditor spurs calls to combat disabled-parking spot abuse

Steven Greenhut May 9, 2017

SACRAMENTO – California has nearly 25 million passenger vehicles, yet hands out a whopping 2.9 million disabled-person parking plates and placards. Anecdotal evidence – i.e., watching those healthy seeming drivers parking in the disabled spot in front of the Wal-Mart

Do new Bay Area tobacco bans promote health or erode harm reduction?

Steven Greenhut May 2, 2017

Restrictive new anti-tobacco ordinances are spreading across the San Francisco Bay Area like a cigarette-sparked wildfire. Northern California cities already have some of the toughest anti-smoking laws in the nation, but a raft of new laws and proposals take aim

Audit Report: University of California hid $175 million while seeking tuition hike

Chris Reed May 1, 2017

University of California President Janet Napolitano could face her roughest week in nearly four years as leader of the state’s flagship college system as lawmakers react sharply to a new audit that says the UC Office of the President hid