Tag "bankruptcy"
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CA high court rejects bid to expand CEQA’s scope
The California Supreme Court has rejected a bold bid by San Francisco regulators to sharply increase the scope of the California Environmental Quality Act, the landmark 1970 law that has helped shape the Golden State’s housing patterns and economy for
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Detroit sends CA another bankruptcy warning
The Stockton and San Bernardino bankruptcies in 2012 were the largest for cities in American history — until Detroit in 2013. State laws and situations differ. But there’s a new warning from Detroit for California’s municipal governments, especially as bankruptcy courts
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Courts: Maybe public pensions can be cut
One theme CalWatchdog.com has covered over the years is that public pension programs are not sacrosanct. Although the general interpretation of the California Constitution is that the pensions must be paid — no matter what — if there’s no money,
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Vallejo’s struggles capture CA city perils
After three years spent in bankruptcy, 2008-11, running the city of Vallejo is still a struggle. Facing a weakened police force and a failed experiment in citizen-driven budgeting, Vallejo’s structural challenges have persisted. In the wake of the pension crisis that helped
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BK judge slams taxpayers on Stockton pensions
In boon to public pensioners and a shock to taxpayers throughout California, federal Judge Christopher M. Klein approved a bankruptcy plan to put Stockton city retirees at the top of the heap. That means taxpayers are at the bottom. Also stiffed
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Post-Stockton, Democrat job-retention myth certain to be exposed
Both parties have bogus canards that they trot out when convenient. The worst example of this among Republicans is the idea that tax cuts always pay for themselves — that they lead to higher revenue. It could well be true
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Stockton ruling, like Vergara ruling, shakes CA status quo
Californians who think the state status quo is nuts and that public employees amount to a protected class of citizens have gotten unexpected help this year from the state and federal courts. First came Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rolf
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Bankruptcy could cut San Bernardino fire pensions
It was a hot 102 degrees last Thursday in San Bernardino — perfect weather for a city bankruptcy “cramdown.” Federal Bankruptcy Court Judge Meredith Jury ruled the city, as Reuters reported, “may impose cuts to its firefighters’ overtime and pension benefits in a bid
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CalPERS is worried
Last week, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes ruled that Detroit city workers’ pensions could be part of the Chapter 9 proceedings. So the pensions could be cut substantially. That obviously affects the federal bankruptcy trial for San Bernardino and, potentially, Desert
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Why Arnold owes U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars (non-bullet train edition)
Two interesting pieces published recently make a strong case that government can be made far more efficient if we actually tried empirically to evaluate what worked and what didn't. On the Zocalo Public Square website, Pepperdine academic Pete Peterson takes
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