Budget and Finance

Hearing uncovered abuse of CA special funds

SACRAMENTO — Only in government is borrowing considered a legitimate way to balance a budget. In California it has become standard operating procedure. To address this growing problem, the state’s Special Funds were the subject of a hearing last week

Federal judge rebuffs CalPERS, OK’s San Bernardino bankruptcy

Wayne Lusvardi August 30, 2013

In a victory for taxpayers, a federal judge ruled Wednesday that the City of San Bernardino is eligible to file for bankruptcy. That trumped the claims of the California Public Employees Pension System that the court had the paramount right

CSU, UC pressed to disinvest in fossil fuels

Joseph Perkins August 30, 2013

Raven Rutledge is a student at San Francisco State University. She has not summered as a Wall Street intern. She is not enrolled in SFSU’s MBA program. Yet, the environmental studies major played a lead role this summer in pressuring

SB 365 aims at limiting tax credits

Dave Roberts August 27, 2013

The California Tax Code is a monster. Just the first 136 sections of the code fill up 202 pages with more than 100,000 words. The entire code contain 60,709 sections. If those first 136 sections are indicative, the entire code

Is California the next Detroit?

Robert J. Cristiano, Ph.D. August 27, 2013

Editor’s Note: CalWatchdog.com has been following Detroit’s economic situation for several years, and in light of its recent filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, we are re-releasing a series of articles detailing the city’s challenges. This piece was originally posted on CalWatchdog,

Will California become Detroit on the Pacific?

Robert J. Cristiano, Ph.D. August 26, 2013

State, local governments misusing voter-approved bond money

Josephine Djuhana August 22, 2013

It seems common sense that bond money approved by a state’s voters would be spent directly on the projects it was intended for. Unfortunately, lawmakers, trying to find resources to bandage constant budget imbalances, often raid bond funds by

Inflation could quickly erode CalPERS pensions

Wayne Lusvardi August 13, 2013

CalPERS retirees could be in for a surprise. The California Public Employment Retirement System payments include a 2 percent inflation increase every year, called a Cost of Living Adjustment. In recent years, the federal government’s Consumer Price Index, which tracks inflation, has

Social Security is healthy compared to public-sector pensions

Ed Ring July 31, 2013

Last week yet another missive on the lessons to be learned from Detroit’s bankruptcy was published, this time in Forbes Magazine by Jeffrey Dorfman, an economist at the University of Georgia. Dorfman’s article, “Detroit’s Bankruptcy Should Be A Warning To

CA state and local spending rises to nearly $400 billion a year

Ed Ring July 17, 2013

California’s state and local spending, in total, has risen to nearly $400 billion a year. That is, if anyone can actually compile accurate financial information. The state controller hasn’t produced a consolidated financial report for K-12 school districts and community