Budget and Finance

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Tax Hike Idea Ignores 'Capitalization'

SEPT. 22, 2010 By WAYNE LUSVARDI San Francisco Chronicle Columnist Debra Saunders has proposed raising the annual rate of property tax increase allowed under Proposition 13 from 2 percent to 2.5 percent to solve the state budget crisis (see “What I Would Do If I Were Governor,”

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The Attack on Seniors

SEPT. 21, 2010 by KATY GRIMES This op ed originally appeared in The Sacramento Business Journal Sept. 17, 2010. On the weary backs of California seniors, the governor’s May budget revision offers a plan to help alleviate the state’s $19.1

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GOP Split Over Pro-Redevelop Measure

SEPT. 17, 2010 By KATY GRIMES Proposition 22 appears to be a seething two-headed snake, with strong division between supporters and opponents, and cleverly worded, but confusing ballot language. According to Ballotpedia, language for the Proposition 22 was filed with

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CalPERS' Ailing Long-Term Care Plan

Editor’s note: A new article on this controversy, published Feb. 20, 2013, is here. It concerns the recent 85 percent rate hike. SEPT. 16, 2010 By ANTHONY PIGNATARO For a long-term care benefit plan, the news has mostly been bad.

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Prop. 25 Sparks Debate Over Tax Hikes

SEPT. 14, 2010 By KATY GRIMES A ballot initiative designed to make it easier for the Legislature to pass the annual budget has supporters and opponents up debating the actual intent of the initiative, as well as the ballot measure

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Is Real Cal Unemployment At 25%?

SEPT. 14, 2010 By JOHN SEILER Welcome to the desert of California jobs. Officially, California’s unemployment rate was 12.3 percent for July, the latest month calculated. That’s bad enough. But the real number is twice as much: at least 25

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Meet Blakeslee, The New Swing Vote

SEPT. 9 2010 By ANTHONY PIGNATARO Anyone watching the Cal Channel’s broadcast of the Aug. 31 Senate budget hearings saw an interesting side to newly elected Republican Sen. Sam Blakeslee. In fact, they literally saw all sides. “Here we are,

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Legislators debate tax reform

SEPT. 3, 2010 By KATY GRIMES The state is still operating without a budget, but not all the legislative budget discussions this week focused on that pressing problem. The Assembly’s Taxation and Revenue committee on Wednesday looked at the broader

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Is budget a tragedy or a horror?

SEPT. 2, 2010 As entertainment goes, the final regular-season episode of the Budget Show in the Capitol was shoddy. The actors – the Assembly members and senators – are B-rate. The speeches, despite their strained attempts to sound Kennedy-esque, were

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Dems boast of state's great ed system!

SEPT. 2, 2010 Tuesday brought Californians yet another budget charade. The “drill” that took place in the Assembly and Senate over a supposed budget vote, spoke volumes about the real worth of legislators to the state.  But what senators and

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