Pension Reform
Back to homepageThe Ballad of John Nunez
Once upon a time — okay, in 1996 — there was a Garvey school board member named John Nunez. He apparently didn’t really get along with another school board member named Robert Miranda, because one day Nunez told a couple
Read MoreCertainty Shmertainty
Just to recap a bit for those following at home: the state is currently running a $20 billion or so budget deficit. What to do about it has paralyzed Sacramento for, well, years, virtually guaranteeing that it will get worse. Notice
Read MoreState's Unions Win Another Court Battle
The state worker furlough situation is getting curiouser and curiouser. Yesterday Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ruled that furloughed workers are entitled to back pay due to the furloughs, and ordered the state to “cease and desist the furlough
Read MoreTough decisions
Heard this very interesting commentary by Sacramento Bee editorial page editor Stuart Leavenworth this morning on Capital Public Radio. Hooked to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent (and bizarre) statement that “the worst is over” as far as the state’s economic troubles
Read MoreIs pension reform dead?
Today Jon Ortiz of the Sacramento Bee reported that since neither Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger nor Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman will publicly support California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility‘s proposed pension reform initiative, the group will abandon efforts to get the
Read MoreFuture state retiree health benefits to top $51.8 billion
State Controller John Chiang released a report yesterday that calculates the dollar-amount value of the health and dental benefits now accrued by current state employees and retirees. His total? $51.8 billion, or the equivalent of 17 years in CalPERS shortfalls.
Read MoreState of the Union
Those wishing to understand the full power public employee unions hold over state government — or who simply feel too good about life in general and want to come down a few notches — ought to peruse today’s new Legislative
Read MoreMixed reviews to Baugh's gauntlet
Orange County Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh told me today that his speech, delivered at the county central committee the night before the Scott Brown victory in Massachusetts, calling on the his county party to withhold its endorsement from candidates
Read MoreCalPERS is following us!
Not exactly sure why, but CalPERS is now following us on Twitter. This surprises us, mostly because we had no idea the state’s Public Employee Retirement System even knew that the social media site Twitter existed, or that they’d have
Read MoreInterview With A Candidate
I just finished an interesting interview with California’s Insurance Commissioner and candidate for Governor, Steve Poizner. Among the topics of discussion were his plans for immediate economic relief for the state upon taking office, how to permanently cut the size
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