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Back to homepageOut-of-state prison costs soar
Jan. 26, 2010 By KATY GRIMES The price tag for California’s out-of-state prisoners has jumped in three years from $20 million in late 2006, to $630 million in 2009-10. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) as well as
Read MoreTilting at pension reform
Jan. 22, 2010 By ANTHONY PIGNATARO What to do about public employee pensions is the thorniest, nastiest, most difficult question facing Sacramento lawmakers today. Few issues cause such disappointment and despair. Yet one group of activists and accountants is plugging
Read MoreDon't ask about this resolution
Jan. 20, 2010 By KATY GRIMES With California’s massive budget problems, there should be plenty of meaningful, critical state business for the Legislature to focus on. However, the nine-member Assembly Judiciary Committee spent time last week on a resolution calling
Read MoreFew Heed State Business Study
Jan. 18, 2020 By KATY GRIMES A small business study published September 2009 by the Governor’s Office of Small Business Advocate did not get the attention it should have, given the economic black hole facing the state. The detailed study
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The Thermostat Nanny
Jan. 18, 2010 By JOHN SEILER On Feb. 2, 1977, two weeks after his inauguration, President Jimmy Carter gave a national address wearing a cardigan sweater. It was a winter of record cold across America and the country was suffering
Read MoreFlat Tax idea revived
Jan. 15, 2010 By JOHN SEILER Challenging times demand innovative answers to problems. This is such a time for the California state budget, which has been chronically out of whack for a decade. The governor’s January budget proposal doesn’t make
Read MoreLAO’s budget reality check
Jan. 13, 2009 By JOHN SEILER Time for a reality check on the budget. That comes from the state Legislative Analyst’s Office, a non-partisan oasis in the middle of the partisan desert of state government. The LAO’s January 12 analysis
Read MoreVoter ID bill disenfranchised
Jan. 12, 2010 By KATY GRIMES A bill designed to combat voter fraud was disenfranchised in the state Senate’s elections committee after a close vote and plenty of testimony in opposition. The committee heard testimony of the bill proposed by
Read MoreThe Capitol’s worst-kept secret
By KATY GRIMES Last August, state Sen. Pat Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, announced that she would not seek re-election in 2010 – shortly after announcing that she would run for re-election. Her announcement occurred soon after she made an inappropriate comment
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