Budget and Finance

State pensions improve, but members living longer

Is it morning in California for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System? Both CalPERS and CalSTRS’ funds have performed better lately, even as members are living longer. CalPERS is doing much better since 2008,

Hertzberg proposes $10 billion sales tax on services

John January 21, 2015

An influential state lawmaker is proposing a $10 billion sales tax on services that would include everything from accounting to yoga classes. State Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, says the changing global economy requires a reevaluation of what’s considered subject to

CA Analyst warns against budget spending spree

Dave Roberts January 16, 2015

With California’s state budget in the best shape in years, Democratic legislators are eager to open the spending spigots. But they were cautioned at an Assembly Budget Committee hearing Jan. 15 that the good economic times could end as

Look for the budget trailer-bill details

Wayne Lusvardi January 12, 2015

Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal, released Friday, is just that: a proposal. It’s a starting point. What’s key are the details he and his allies include in the “trailer bills” to the budget they advance for fiscal year 2015-16, which

Brown talks taxes at budget press conference

Joel Fox January 12, 2015

Reading Gov. Jerry Brown’s meaning on some issues, with or without a dictionary and history text, can be tricky. But it was worth looking for signals on tax issues at the governor’s Friday press conference introducing his record, $113 billion general-fund budget

The whole truth about California’s employment picture

Joel Fox December 26, 2014

News on the economy appears good with new national numbers on economic growth released and polls measuring the attitudes about the job market ticking up. However, in California some troubling job numbers don’t get the attention they deserve. While quarterly

Stockton bankruptcy looms over 2015

Wayne Lusvardi December 24, 2014

The New Year is going to bring increasing difficulties for some California cities because of the 2014 settlement of Stockton’s bankruptcy. The reason: because all cities are linked under California municipal laws, especially for pension costs, borrowing costs are

New tax would hit services

Wayne Lusvardi December 19, 2014

Tax reform is in the air. One proposal is by state Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Los Angeles, also a former speaker of the Assembly. Senate Bill 8, the Upward Mobility Act, would raise $10 billion in sales and use taxes

GOP lawmaker: fund schools with high-speed rail bonds

John December 15, 2014

A Republican lawmaker wants to turn money for California’s high-speed rail project into funding for schools. Assemblyman Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, introduced Assembly Bill 6, which would cancel outstanding bond funds approved by Proposition 1A, a 2008 voter-approved initiative to fund the