Budget and Finance
Back to homepageCA Already Max Taxes Crude Oil
FEB. 1, 2012 By WAYNE LUSVARDI How “crude” of them. Tax activists in California are pushing a deceptive “oil severance tax for public education” for the November 2012 ballot to increase funding for K-12 public schools, junior colleges and state
Read MoreChiang: State Broke on March 8
JAN. 31, 2012 By CHRISS STREET State Controller John Chiang shocked California legislators today when he sent a letter announcing that the state will run out of cash on March 8. That is, unless Legislature allows state Treasurer Bill Lockyer
Read MoreRedevelopment Agencies Facing Default
JAN. 23, 2012 By CHRISS STREET Public officials are scrambling to deal with the California Supreme Court’s decision in California Redevelopment Agency vs. Matosantos. It upheld the elimination of the RDAs last year by Gov. Jerry Brown and the California
Read MoreBrown: Proving The ‘Declinists’ Wrong
JAN. 18, 2012 By KATY GRIMES Was it Gov. Jerry Brown’s State of the State address today? Or the “more show than substance” address, as some lawmakers dubbed it? Brown defended High-Speed Rail, pushed for implementation of AB 32, touted economic
Read MoreCA Credit Rating Nothing to Celebrate
JAN. 17, 2012 They were slapping high fives in the offices of state Treasurer Bill Lockyer this week. Why the celebration? Because California no longer has the nation’s worst credit rating, according to Moody’s Investors Service. “The reason we’ve improved
Read MoreCA Running Massive Cash Deficit
JAN. 12, 2012 By CHRISS STREET The California state government’s general fund is running a staggering cash deficit of $21 billion on an $88.5 billion budget. The number comes from Controller John Chaing just-released financial statement for December 2011. The
Read MoreLAO: Brown Numbers Don’t Compute
JAN. 12, 2012 By JOHN SEILER Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal contains more smoke than a forest fire. More mirrors than a funhouse. And more empty promises than a presidential candidate’s platform. So much for his solemn pledge, in his
Read More‘Inflation Tax’ Already Striking CA
JAN. 9, 2011 By JOHN SEILER Californians won’t have to wait for tax increases, such as the several that could be put before voters in the November election. One proposal is Gov. Jerry Brown’s $7 billion tax increase. Tax increases
Read MoreRedevelopment barons plot comeback
JAN. 9, 2012 I’m still giddy after the California Supreme Court ruled last month that the state had every right to shut down those noxious enemies of property rights and fiscal responsibility — redevelopment agencies. Better yet, the state’s high
Read MoreGov.’s Groundhog Day In California
JAN. 7, 2011 It felt like “Groundhog Day” on Thursday during Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal press conference. I had a flashback to January 2011. Listening to him make the same claims about the budget that he made all year
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