Americans Should Know They Have Choices In The Workplace

By Larry Sand
06/23/2013
In the summer of 2012, the Nevada Policy Research Institute, a non-partisan think tank based in Las Vegas, initiated a campaign to let local teachers know that they could opt out of their union, the 12,000 member Clark County Education Association, by submitting written notice between July 1 and July 15. The reaction was dazzling....

TAGS: California Teachers Association, National Employee Freedom Week, Nevada Policy Research Institute, Right to Work

How Interest Rates Affect the Federal Budget

By Edward Ring
06/22/2013
The relationship between stagnant economic growth and high levels of total market debt should be clear to anyone trying to manage a household where their home mortgage payment consumes 50% or more of their entire household income. Similarly, the relationship between economic growth and the ability to borrow should be clear to anyone who has...

How Big Are California’s State and Local Governments Combined?

By Edward Ring
06/21/2013
June 21, 2013 By Bill Fletcher and Ed Ring SUMMARY:  California’s local governments and agencies spent far more in FYE 6-30-2011, $316 billion, when compared to spending for direct state government operations, $49 billion. Similarly, using realistic assumptions regarding the value of unfunded retirement pension and healthcare obligations, the amount of long-term debt carried by...

Union Watch Highlights

By Editor
06/18/2013
Here are links to the top stories available online over the past week reporting on union activity including legislation, financial impact, reform activism, etc., from California and across the USA. Kansas Teachers Vote to Decertify Their Union James Sherk and Michael Cirrotti, June 18, 2013, Heritage Network Teachers in Deerfield, Kansas, just did something unusual—they...

How Public Sector Unions Skew America’s Public Safety and National Security Agenda

By Edward Ring
06/18/2013
It would be redundant to summarize recent revelations concerning just how big America’s national security state has become. Two reports, both written in the last two days, do a really good job: “The Making of a Global Security State,” by Tom Engelhardt, published by The Nation Institute, and “5 Alarming Things We Should Have Already...

TAGS: public sector compensation, Public sector pensions, public sector unions, Reason Foundation

Are Unions Behind California Assembly Bill 76 to Hinder Public Records Access?

By Kevin Dayton
06/18/2013
What special interest group would have such disregard for the tenor of the times that it would now push for a law to hinder the public’s ability to obtain records from local governments? And what special interest group would have the chutzpah to get that law enacted through a supplemental trailer to an annual budget,...

TAGS: California Public Records Act, Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction, Senate Bill 7 (2013), Senate Bill 829 (2012), Senate Bill 922 (2011)

New Actuarial Rules Will Force States to Admit Pension Problems

By Mike Shedlock
06/18/2013
Editor’s Note:  This post by UnionWatch contributor Mike Shedlock covers familiar territory. Our parent organization, the California Public Policy Center, has published detailed analyses of the new GASB and Moody’s rules, including: “Moody’s Final Adopted Adjustments of Government Pension Data,” “How New Rules from Moody’s and GASB Affect the Financial Reporting of Pensions in Seven...

TAGS: California pensions, Public sector pensions

Homeschool Home Run

By Larry Sand
06/18/2013
An Education News report tells us that homeschooling is thriving. In a recent report, we learn that since 1999, the number of children who are homeschooled has increased by 75 percent. Though homeschooled children represent only 4 percent (about 2 million) of all school-age children nationwide, they are growing seven times faster than the number...

TAGS: A.J. Duffy, California Teachers Association, Eric Hanushek, Home School Legal Defense Association, homeschooling, Larry Sand, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles

Union Watch Highlights

By Editor
06/11/2013
Here are links to the top stories available online over the past week reporting on union activity including legislation, financial impact, reform activism, etc., from California and across the USA. California Supreme Court Rules Union entitled to addresses, phone numbers of all county employees By Jessica Karmasek, June 11, 2013, Legal News Online The California...

Why Public Sector Unions are “Special” Special Interests

By Edward Ring
06/11/2013
California’s November 2012 statewide ballot included Prop. 32, the “Stop Special Interest Money Now” initiative. Among the provisions included in this campaign finance reform measure was the requirement that public sector unions obtain permission from each member prior to using a portion of their dues to support political campaigns. It’s hard to precisely determine just...

TAGS: difference between public and private sector unions, Prop. 32, public sector unions, special interests

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Ending Homelessness

Prepared by Golden Together, a Movement to Restore the California Dream Edward Ring, California Policy Center Steve Hilton, Founder of Golden Together Published March 20, 2025

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