Tag "Jerry Brown"
Back to homepage
CalSTRS to sock local school budgets
California’s pension crisis just keeps getting worse. The major crisis now is the California State Teachers’ Retirement System. Gov. Jerry Brown warned about the crisis in his Jan. 2014 budget proposal, but didn’t do anything about it. Election year. We’ll
Read More
Will young CA justices use Vergara case to audition for SCOTUS?
The Volokh Conspiracy, the wonderful legal blog founded by UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh, had a provocative post about what might happen now that Gov. Jerry Brown has named three acclaimed youngish scholars to the California Supreme Court. George Washington
Read More
Will NY fracking ban trigger ‘domino effect’ that reaches CA?
California environmentalists and government regulators have long prided themselves in pioneering new rules and restrictions. But now it appears a liberal East Coast state has taken the lead in dealing with one of the day’s most controversial environmental issues. This
Read More
Bag ban goes to voters in 2016
Some good holiday news. This year the California Legislature passed the most unsanitary legislation in decades, the ban on plastic bags at grocery stores. An initiative just qualified for 2016 for voters to dump this eco-Marxism from the law books. I
Read More
Brown readies 2015-16 budget
Budget time again. According to the Sacramento Bee, Gov. Jerry Brown is working on his budget, for fiscal year 2015-16, which begins next July 1. He will reveal his budget a couple weeks into the new year. The Bee looked
Read More
Drought mostly over, govt. water takeover isn’t
It looks like the drought is receding, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported on Thursday: In summary, a wet December (to date) has provided California a foothold for drought recovery, but 3 straight winters of subnormal precipitation will take time (possibly
Read More
Coal ban would boost tax cost of pensions
California public pensions already have a big problem with adequate funding. The nonpartisan state Legislative Analyst pegs the pensions’ unfunded liabilities at $340 billion. It should be obvious what the investment strategy should be for the California Public Employees System,
Read More
Teacher pay raises gobble up Prop 30, LCFF funds
In 2012, California voters approved Proposition 30, which temporarily raised sales taxes on everyone and income taxes on the wealthy. The measure was sold with the promise it would directly help public education. It was “for the kids.” In 2013,
Read More
Dismal election turnout
The California Secretary of State’s office just released figures showing the Nov. 4 election suffered the worst turnout rate ever. According to the Capitol Weekly summary: Less than a third of California’s eligible voters cast ballots on Nov. 4…. Of
Read More
Vacancies trigger 2015 state Senate elections
The Nov. 4 vote didn’t end this election cycle, but sparked a new round. Three sitting state senators won seats in the U.S. House of Representatives: Sens. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Walnut Creek; Steve Knight, R-Antelope Valley; and Mimi Walters, R-Irvine. They will resign their positions in
Read More