It’s Getting Crowded At The Top
“Is that all?” That’s my guess as what would be the modal response from budget pressure groups, disappointed at the Governor’s less than fulsome funding of various spending programs released in today’s proposed 2017-18 state budget. Uncertainty about the economy, about federal tax policy, and most importantly about taxpayer behavior, supports a prudent approach from […]
CalPERS Return Rate Decision Could Lead To Tax Hikes
When California voters hear calls for tax increases in the near future they should think of pensions. That truth has never been clearer now that the California Public Employees’ Retirement System board voted to establish a more realistic return rate on its investments. The end result of this action is that state and local governments […]
Did Dems Forget Eric Holder’s Fast & Furious Scandal?
What were they thinking? California Democrats believe they scored a coup when then hired Eric Holder to give them legal counsel. The former attorney general also is a close friend of the president – the one leaving office Jan. 20, not the one moving in. The New York Times quoted Senate President Kevin de León, […]
California as Alt-America
In 1949 the historian Carey McWilliams defined California as the “the Great Exception” — a place so different from the rest of America as to seem almost a separate country. In the ensuing half-century, the Golden State became not so much exceptional but predictive of the rest of the nation: California’s approaches to public education, […]
Uncertainty Over Federal Health Care Policy Creates Major Heartburn for California Budget-Makers
When C. Duane Dauner, the crackerjack CEO who has headed the California Hospital Association for 31 years, announced last month his intent to retire at the end of 2018, the timing must surely have been bittersweet. On the one hand, he had just completed one of his most productive years in the big leagues of […]
For Whom the California Budget Tolls
Journalists and elected officials occasionally make the mistake of viewing budget problems in terms of size rather than where the budget item falls. For example, the costs of unfunded pensions and retiree healthcare in the current fiscal year (FYE16–17) add up to 6% of the state’s General Fund, a much smaller share than retirement spending […]
California’s 4.5 Million Trump Voters
In the November election, California voters passed several ballot initiatives acting on liberal priorities, and votes for Hillary Clinton in the state exceeded votes for Donald Trump by a two-to-one margin. Nevertheless, 4.5 million Californians voted for Donald Trump—7% of his total support across the country. California’s Trump voters stand apart from other voters—both those […]
No One Is Coming To The Rescue To Solve California’s Housing Crisis. So Let’s Do It Ourselves.
The first signs appeared years ago, in our own neighborhoods, when we noticed just how many grown kids and grandkids were still living in their parents’ spare bedrooms. Why couldn’t these 25-year-olds get a place of their own? Were there really no available apartments? Wait, they cost how much?! Then, it dawned on us. Look around, and […]
California Factors Dampen Upward Mobility For The Poor
Children born to low-income parents in California have slightly higher lifetime earnings than children born to low-income parents in other states – but not because they live in California. Researchers credit the better income mobility to the parents. In fact, these same children would have experienced even greater upward income mobility had they grown up […]