Schools, health face deep cuts in California’s $203 billion budget
Gov. Gavin Newsom revised California’s budget down to $203 billion today as the coronavirus pandemic batters the state with record job losses and shortfalls. In charting out a plan to fill a huge deficit, the Democratic governor strategically tied much of the cuts to public health, public safety and public schools to additional federal stimulus […]
California Isn’t Colorado
Recently California joined with Colorado in asking the federal government for more COVID-related financial support for states but the two states have very different needs for the money. California spends $120 per resident — nearly $5 billion per year — on insurance subsidies for retired state employees (known as “OPEB”) while Colorado spends only $5 […]
Newsom pointing finger in the wrong direction for gas prices
California lawmakers are at it again in with more lawsuits in May 2020 against two multinational gasoline firms for allegedly manipulating California’s gas prices and costing consumers more at the pump. Governor Newsom and Attorney General Becerra have short memories as “their own Democratic” lawmakers already killed transparency of pricing at the pump. The Governor […]
Woes: Budget and political
Bill and Sherry explore the immediate and long-term damage caused by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $54 billion in California state budget cuts–a result of the stubborn coronavirus pandemic. We also look at how President Donald Trump is reacting to the pandemic numbers. Not well, judging from his reaction when reporters ask about them. But he […]
Local Governments Looking for Revenue are Watching the CA Supreme Court
While state and local governments try to figure how to deal with lost revenue to cover expenses, one solution may come from an unusual source. While taxpayers, the federal government, budget gimmicks and borrowing may all play a part in balancing state and local budgets, California governments anxiously await a decision on pension obligations from […]
Protecting Small Businesses Is Critical to COVID-19 Recovery
Despite the CARES Act’s crown as the largest stimulus package in human history, the $350 billion it allocated for small businesses was exhausted in just two weeks. In 2016, small businesses employed 59.9 million people and made up 99.9 percent of all U.S. businesses. Now, with unemployment numbers nearing thirty million, the small business community […]
Hey, Mayor, We Bent That Curve
Weren’t we told we needed to go into an economic lockdown so that the hospitals wouldn’t be overwhelmed? And didn’t we all agree and obey? And haven’t we accomplished that goal spectacularly well? According the news coverage lately, hospitals are not being overrun. In fact, they’re seeing fewer patients than normal. The chief executive at […]
Rethinking College Education in America
In an interview posted last month by the Hoover Institution, the estimable Victor Davis Hanson, speaking in character, made a typically provocative comment, saying “for what we are paying for every provost of diversity and inclusion we could probably hire three professors of electrical engineering.” That can be fact checked. And the results are illuminating. […]
Plans Aplenty to Boost State & Local Government Revenue. Will Any of Them Fly?
Proposals to deal with state and local financial woes in California are moving on both the state and federal levels. How doable the proposals are is uncertain, but the more immediate relief will come from Washington if a deal comes together. California Senate Democrats’ proposal to confront rental issues and state budget shortfalls came one […]
California’s recovery must focus on its “essential” Central Valley
Crises have a way of revealing what’s important. And Californians adjusting to life in the age of COVID-19 are learning the importance of the Central Valley. The Central Valley is home to many parts of the economy that continue to operate during the crisis producing products and providing services that we all rely on. It’s […]