Budget and Finance
Back to homepageCA debates outsourcing inmates
MAY 21, 2010 By KATY GRIMES In what felt more like a night court at times than a Capitol hearing room,with scores of state employees noisily filing in and out during a budget hearing, the Department of Finance, and the
Read MoreWorkers comp needs market reform
MAY 21, 2010 The subject of workers compensation reform appears on the surface to be an issue only pertinent to employers and business owners. However, nothing could be further from reality. If more employees paid attention to employer regulations, fees
Read MoreGovernor adopts budget realism
MAY 14, 2010 By JOHN SEILER The party’s over. That’s the message from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s austere May Revise, released today, of his budget for fiscal 2010-11, which begins on July 1. It calls for cutting $3 billion from state
Read MoreDour governor pitches deep cuts
MAY 14, 2010 By STEVEN GREENHUT At a press conference at 1 pm today, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released a May budget revise that attempts to close a nearly $20 billion budget gap by slashing state welfare programs while maintaining current-year
Read MoreWorkers' Comp officials reprimanded
MAY 13, 2010 By KATY GRIMES Mention workers’ compensation reform in a crowd, and eyes immediately glaze over. It can be a droll subject – unless you have skin in the game. The Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee held
Read MoreDoomed pension reform
MAY 12, 2010 By STEVEN GREENHUT “One cannot be both a progressive and be opposed to pension reform,” argued Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s top pension advisor, David Crane, during a pension-reform hearing on Monday. “The math is irrefutable that the losers
Read MoreGOP rebuts Dems' tax roadshow
MAY 12, 2010 By STEVEN GREENHUT At a press conference at the Capitol this morning marking a 50-day countdown until the end of the state’s fiscal year, Assembly Republicans made it clear that they will not accept any new taxes
Read MoreCA Forward's insomnia cure
MAY 11, 2010 By KATY GRIMES In a hearing yesterday that could have helped anyone with an insomnia problem, California Forward, the budget reform group proposing a simple majority vote by the Legislature instead of the two-thirds currently required, presented
Read MoreDemocrats dreaming
MAY 10, 2010 California’s Assembly Democrats want you to be part of the state’s budget solution, which is how they are touting a series of live budget forums across the state. One took place Saturday in San Diego and the
Read MoreLegislators push for higher taxes
MAY 5, 2010 By MICHAEL BARNHART and BRYAN LEONARD Pity California taxpayers. They are afflicted with the nation’s highest sales and gasoline taxes, and a particularly punishing income tax. And still “progressives” both inside and outside the state claim that
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