Dear Uncle Bob
Dear Uncle Bob, You’re back!!! You told a number of our mutual friends down here in L.A. that you were trying to make a quiet start in the State Senate, and keep your head down for a while. And that strategy made a ton of sense. You didn’t want to be at the center of […]
Mockler’s Education Plan was Simple, the Legislature Complicated It
Much has been written about the contributions to public life of Johnny Mockler, who passed away last week. Punditry often focuses on his work in school finance and in particular the Proposition 98 minimum school funding guarantee that the voters approved in 1988. As an initiative measure it arose out of an inability by the […]
Medicaid Report Finds Federal Funds Systematically Misallocated to States, Especially CA
Medicaid debates over expansion and program cuts are raging throughout the states as higher healthcare costs and enrollment figures strain state budgets. California Common Sense’s new report examines whether the federal government’s current formula for determining federal funding levels per state accurately represents a state’s potential revenue and current poverty levels. The “Federal Medical Assistance […]
CA, TX and the Rise of the Nation-States
In this highly polarized political environment, states and localities, are ever more taking on the character of separate countries. Washington’s gridlock is increasingly matched by decisive, often “go it alone” polices from local authorities. Rather than create a brave, increasingly federalized second New Deal, the Obama years, particularly since the Republicans took control of the […]