Unions continue to undermine the independence and effectiveness of citizens bond oversight committees at California school and community college districts. In December 2015, the elected board of trustees for the Rancho Santiago Community College District voted 4-2 to reject an application from the President & CEO of the long-established Orange County Taxpayers Association to serve on...

My latest battle against a teacher union leader…. Last month, Rebecca Friedrichs, lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the California Teachers Association that was recently heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, and I were invited to talk about her case on Inside OC, a public affairs TV show in Orange County. Rebecca was given the...

California’s civil infrastructure was once the envy of the nation. During the 1950’s and 1960’s the state wisely invested in transportation, water and power infrastructure, delivering capacity well in excess of the needs of the state’s population at the time. Even today, the scale of California’s network of aqueducts and pumping stations to transfer water...

For Immediate Release March 15, 2016 California Policy Center Contact: Will Swaim Will@CalPolicyCenter.org (949) 274-1911 SACRAMENTO — Years after the Great Recession slammed their Wall Street investments, at least four California counties have broken through the 10 percent ceiling, spending one of out of every $10 to fund their government-employee retirement programs. The resulting strain on local budgets, called...

For Immediate Release March 15, 2016 California Policy Center Contact: Will Swaim Will@CalPolicyCenter.org (949) 274-1911 Annual ranking: California’s best and worst counties by pension burden SACRAMENTO — Years after the Great Recession slammed their Wall Street investments, at least four California counties have broken through the 10 percent ceiling, spending one of out of every $10 to fund their...

For Immediate Release March 15, 2016 California Policy Center Contact: Will Swaim Will@CalPolicyCenter.org (949) 274-1911 Annual ranking: California’s worst counties for pension burden include Santa Barbara, Kern, Fresno SACRAMENTO — Years after the Great Recession slammed their Wall Street investments, at least four California counties have broken through the 10 percent ceiling, spending one of out of every $10...

For Immediate Release March 15, 2016 California Policy Center Contact: Will Swaim Will@CalPolicyCenter.org (949) 274-1911 Annual ranking: California’s best and worst counties by pension burden SACRAMENTO — Years after the Great Recession slammed their Wall Street investments, at least four California counties have broken through the 10 percent ceiling, spending one of out of every $10 to fund...

Years after the Great Recession slammed their Wall Street investments, at least five California counties have broken through the 10 percent ceiling, spending at least one of out of every $10 to fund their government-employee retirement programs. The resulting strain on local budgets, called the pension burden, is revealed in California Policy Center’s latest analysis of county reports....

March 2016 Update:  Here’s a documented comparison of California taxes and economic climate with the rest of the states. The news is bad, and getting worse. But it doesn’t have to be this way! The state and local government policies that created an unaffordable California can be reversed. PERSONAL INCOME TAX: Prior to Prop 30 passing in...

A hospital association just pumped $12.5 million into an effort to extend a tax on top earners — a tax that’s provided billions of dollars in education funding since 2012. In fact, the California Association of Hospitals and Health Systems quadrupled its investment from four years ago when Prop. 30 passed. So why do hospitals...