Report: California ranks No. 43 for government finance
Report: California ranks No. 43 for government finance
“With California’s very late publication last month, all 50 states have now produced audited financial reports for their 2022 fiscal year,” writes Cato’s Marc Joffe. The news for California is not good: despite the nation’s highest marginal income tax rate and punishing business taxes and fees, the Golden State ranks 43 in financial health. Joffe...
By California Policy Center
California’s Unplanned Obsolescence
California’s Unplanned Obsolescence
In the midst of my annual spring cleaning regimen, I came across a cardboard box of old charging cables and adapters taking up scarce space in my garage. Cords of various sizes from computers, printers, cell phones, televisions, and other devices I’ve discarded over the years were all clumped together, kept for the remote chance...
By Lance Christensen
How Much Water Will $30 Billion Buy?
How Much Water Will $30 Billion Buy?
So far this year I had the privilege of attending two water oriented events. The first, in February, was at the annual CalDesal conference in Sacramento. The second, in March, was at the Kern County Water Summit in Bakersfield. I sensed there is a growing recognition among the participants in both of these events that...
By Edward Ring
Baby Bumps and Teacher Benefits: Dispelling CTA Myths About Maternity Leave
Baby Bumps and Teacher Benefits: Dispelling CTA Myths About Maternity Leave
Last month, the California Teachers Association posted on Instagram: “This #WomensHistoryMonth, let’s fix a broken system that leaves educators without any paid disability related to pregnancy!” The fix, California’s largest teachers union asserts, is Assembly Bill 2901, authored by Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters). If passed, the state would require school districts and community...
By Sheridan Swanson
Governing by Hope Instead of Fear
Governing by Hope Instead of Fear
A liberal program must also be a responsible program, a reasonable, rational, realistic program. We must know how much it will cost and where the money is coming from. Benefits must be measured against burdens. A program which pampers the people or threatens our solvency is as irresponsible as the one which ignores a vital...
By Edward Ring
Sacramento’s War on Water and Energy
Sacramento’s War on Water and Energy
After the deluges of 2022-23, and the rainfall season so far this year delivering an above normal snowpack and above normal rain, the drought in California is over. Even the situation on the dry Colorado is much improved, with Lake Powell and Lake Mead collectively at 42 percent of capacity, up from only 32 percent of capacity at...
By Edward Ring
Stalled Labor Pick Julie Su Lets Herself Off the Hook for California’s Missing Billions
Stalled Labor Pick Julie Su Lets Herself Off the Hook for California’s Missing Billions
For years, the state’s auditor had issued warnings about the unemployment office’s vulnerabilities. No one, certainly not Su, acted on that intelligence. Thirteen months after President Biden announced it was his “honor to nominate Julie Su to be our country’s next Secretary of Labor,” there’s good news, bad news, and even worse bad news to report. Among those...
By Will Swaim
Golden State Budget Fantasy
Golden State Budget Fantasy
Gavin Newsom once bragged of a surplus, but California is underwater. While finalizing the upcoming fiscal year’s state budget back in May 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom boasted of an extraordinary projected surplus: $97 billion. The governor immediately collaborated with an enthusiastic state legislature to spend it all. Of course, new spending on new programs...
By Edward Ring
California’s Deficit: Bring Your Alibis
California’s Deficit: Bring Your Alibis
Governor Gavin Newsom helped create — and is now faced with — the biggest budget deficit in Golden State history. In the summer of 2022, California governor Gavin Newsom, apparently high on the smell of cash, announced that California had just smashed through the state-budget equivalent of the first four-minute mile: a one-year surplus of $100...
By Will Swaim
Parent advocates strike back
Parent advocates strike back
It’s easy to understand why California’s public schools are seeing a mass exodus of students and families. The once-Golden State continues to have some of the worst student math and reading scores in the nation. Yet schools chief Tony Thurmond and Gov. Gavin Newsom seem more concerned about bogus “book bans” and helping kids secretly change their gender at...
By California Policy Center
The Political Class Is An Industry
The Political Class Is An Industry
with minor leagues and pre-election financial support networks Elected officials start out on financial support, long before they’re elected. Here’s one example to show how it works. In 2018, the ACLU of Southern California filed a class action lawsuit against Riverside County, alleging that a county program to intervene in the lives of at-risk youth was oppressive...
By Chris Bray
California Has Largest Unrestricted Net Deficit in US
California Has Largest Unrestricted Net Deficit in US
The California State Controller released the audit of California’s financial statements, performed by the State Auditor for the year ending June 30, 2022, on March 15. The annual comprehensive financial report should have been issued some 15 months sooner. Looking at the document, we are immediately informed on the first page of the Report Overview...
By John Moorlach
Long Overdue Financial Report for California Brings Bad News
Long Overdue Financial Report for California Brings Bad News
When it comes to the reporting of the accounting of our 50 states, two main concerns can be observed. The first is the delinquency rate of several states. For the fiscal year June 30, 2022, 20 states released their audited financial statements within six months. There are four states that deviate from the norm, with...
By John Moorlach