Media Region: United States

Membership in California’s government unions plummeted in 2018, federal report shows

Membership in California’s government unions plummeted in 2018, federal report shows

“Walk out on the union, not the kids”: A California Policy Center social media advertisement delivered during the Los Angeles teachers strike. Memo to anyone still wondering about the impact of the Supreme Court’s landmark 2018 decision in Janus v AFSCME: Wonder no more. Despite a surging economy, union membership in California dropped by 86,000...

By Editorial Staff

As L.A. strike begins, eye-catching billboards tell teachers they don’t have to strike – they can quit the union

As L.A. strike begins, eye-catching billboards tell teachers they don’t have to strike – they can quit the union

SHOUTING FROM THE ROOFTOPS: Billboard at 6th and Beaudry, near LA Unified HQ. LOS ANGELES—As 30,000 teachers walked out of Los Angeles classrooms, a coalition of education reform groups is offering teachers an alternative: leave the teachers union. Billboards around the Los Angeles Unified School District encourage teachers to learn their rights – including the...

By Editorial Staff

California’s State and Local Liabilities Total $1.5 Trillion

California’s State and Local Liabilities Total $1.5 Trillion

California’s total state and local government liabilities as of June 30, 2017, the most recent year for which a complete set of financial and actuarial reports are available, totaled just over $1.5 trillion. Over two-thirds of that total consists of unfunded liabilities for pensions and retiree health insurance for California's state and local public employees.

By California Policy Center

EMBARGOED: Janus attorneys and Cal Policy Center represent Los Angeles teacher in lawsuit against LAUSD, UTLA

EMBARGOED: Janus attorneys and Cal Policy Center represent Los Angeles teacher in lawsuit against LAUSD, UTLA

MEDIA ADVISORY from the LIBERTY JUSTICE CENTER and CALIFORNIA POLICY CENTER MEDIA CONTACTS Kristen Williamson kwilliamson@libertyjusticecenter.org or 847-651-8611 Will Swaim will@californiapolicycenter.org or 949-274-1911 EMBARGOED until Nov. 13 at 10 a.m. PST Janus attorneys and California Policy Center represent Los Angeles teacher in lawsuit against LAUSD, UTLA LOS ANGELES (Nov. 13, 2018) – Attorneys from the Liberty Justice Center and the...

By Editorial Staff

State’s Retired Public Workers Earn 26% More than Private-Sector Workers Still on the Job

State’s Retired Public Workers Earn 26% More than Private-Sector Workers Still on the Job

For Immediate Release March 13, 2017 Contact: Dawn Collier dawn@calpolicycenter.org 916-718-8572 California Policy Center California’s retired government workers earn 26% more in retirement than private-sector workers earn while still on the job. That’s the finding of an in-depth analysis released this week by the California Policy Center. “This is an absolutely upside-down system,” said California...

By California Policy Center

California’s State and Local Workers Average Pay and Benefits Twice the Average for Private Sector Workers

California’s State and Local Workers Average Pay and Benefits Twice the Average for Private Sector Workers

For Immediate Release January 26, 2017 Contact: Dawn Collier dawn@calpolicycenter.org 916-718-8572 California Policy Center A in-depth analysis released this week by the California Policy Center finds that the average pay and benefits for California’s full-time state and local public employees in 2015 was $121,843. This is nearly twice what the average full-time private sector worker...

By California Policy Center

Friedrichs v. 2.0? U.S. Supreme Court May Get a Second Chance to Free Teachers from Forced Unionism

Friedrichs v. 2.0? U.S. Supreme Court May Get a Second Chance to Free Teachers from Forced Unionism

For Immediate Release January 19, 2017 California Policy Center Will Swaim, will@calpolicycenter.org (949) 274-1911 In a case that will cheer education reformers, four Pennsylvania teachers today sued their unions, school districts and district officials for making union membership a condition of their employment. The suit – and the likely appointment of a reform-friendly Supreme Court...

By California Policy Center

California debt now running closer to Italy and Portugal, new study finds

California debt now running closer to Italy and Portugal, new study finds

For Immediate Release January 11, 2017 California Policy Center Marc Joffe, marc@calpolicycenter.org (415) 578-0558 A landmark study of California’s finances reveals the state’s debt burden is approaching the levels of Italy and Portugal, where debt crises in 2011 and 2012 drove the Eurozone countries to the brink of collapse. The findings come a day after...

By California Policy Center

Gov. Brown says yes to school finance reforms inspired by CPC study

Gov. Brown says yes to school finance reforms inspired by CPC study

For Immediate Release August 18, 2016 California Policy Center Contact: Will Swaim Will@CalPolicyCenter.org (714) 573-2231 SACRAMENTO — It’s rare that a think-tank study produces real reform, but it happened today when Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill designed to stop school officials before they recklessly spend again. Assembly Bill 2116 began one year ago with...

By Will Swaim

SUITABLE FOR QUOTING: Expert Responses to CalPERS' Monday, July 18 Earnings Report

SUITABLE FOR QUOTING: Expert Responses to CalPERS' Monday, July 18 Earnings Report

For Immediate Release July 18, 2016 California Policy Center Contact: Will Swaim Will@CalPolicyCenter.org (714) 573-2231 California Policy Center Responses to Monday, July 18, 2016 Earnings Report For reporters and commentary writers, the California Policy Center can make available two public finance experts. We also offer for publication these immediate responses to the CalPERS report:   ED...

By Will Swaim

FOR PUBLICATION: Ed Ring Response to CalPERS' disastrous 2015-16 earnings report

FOR PUBLICATION: Ed Ring Response to CalPERS' disastrous 2015-16 earnings report

For Immediate Publication July 18, 2016 California Policy Center Contact: Will Swaim Will@CalPolicyCenter.org (714) 573-2231 Latest earnings report is more evidence California retirement agency will reform or die By Ed Ring | California Policy Center The officials who run California’s public-employee retirement system should have released today’s earnings report with sound effects – a flugelhorn, maybe,...

By Will Swaim

Red Flags: New Study Offers Grim Warning for California Pension Funds

Red Flags: New Study Offers Grim Warning for California Pension Funds

For Immediate Release July 12, 2016 California Policy Center Contact: Will Swaim Will@CalPolicyCenter.org (714) 573-2231 Stock market overvaluation will lead to ‘major correction,’ trigger benefits cuts and tax hikes SACRAMENTO, Calif. – There are more red flags for public-sector pension funds that rely on stock investments for most of their income, a new California Policy Center...

By California Policy Center

UC Berkeley's 'income inequality' critics earn in top 2%

UC Berkeley's 'income inequality' critics earn in top 2%

For Immediate Release June 23, 2016 California Policy Center Contact: Will Swaim Will@CalPolicyCenter.org (714) 573-2231   Income inequality at UC Berkeley worse than world’s-worst Haiti SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Scholars from the University of California at Berkeley have played a pivotal role in making income inequality a major issue in 2016 political campaigns. But while they decry...

By California Policy Center