New governor of the People’s Republic of California wants to expand a dubious universal preschool plan. California’s new Governor Gavin Newsom envisions a future where the state will be involved in your children’s lives from conception to adulthood. Newsom told EdSource in September, “Our role begins when babies are still in the womb and it...
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.
Los Angeles Unified is in financial trouble. Anyone following the recent developments, potentially leading to a teacher strike very soon, knows this. On September 11th the deputy superintendent of public instruction for the California Department of Education, Nick Schweizer, made an unannounced appearance along with Candi Clark, chief financial officer of the Los Angeles County...
We estimate that California’s total state and local government debt as of June 30, 2017 totaled just over $1.5 trillion. That total includes all outstanding bonds, loans, and other long-term liabilities, along with the officially reported unfunded liability for other post-employment benefits (primarily retiree healthcare), as well as unfunded pension liabilities. This represents a rise...
The week’s winner was Contessa Mendoza (The_barefoot_contessa14) for her clever and ironic double entendre of the word, “sign” in a photograph of a fitness center’s promotional sign and its Proposition 65 warning. Her entry also had the highest social impact score. View this post on Instagram I will ignore this sign every time to watch...
Over the last several years, this column has exposed multiple instances of government entities using taxpayer dollars for political advocacy, a practice that is illegal under both state and federal law. Because progress in stopping these violations has been difficult, taxpayers will be pleased to hear that on December 20th, California’s campaign watchdog agency, the...
Union boss’ orchestrated state crisis is well underway in Los Angeles. United Teachers of Los Angeles President Alex Caputo-Pearl’s long sought-after teachers’ strike is set for January 10th. He began the long march back in 2016 when he forecast a walkout and also boasted about the union’s ability to “create a state crisis” in 2018. Though...
Week 19 judging was particularly challenging. The two most timely featured a holiday theme – one post Christmas and one for the New Year. After due deliberation, Contessa Mendoza’s (Curvy_Doll13) extremely funny Wal-Mart entry was declared the winner based in part on greater social impact and in part on the fact that the warning sign literally affects...
Earlier this month, outgoing California Governor Jerry Brown predicted “fiscal oblivion” if California’s state and local agencies are not granted more flexibility to modify pension benefits. As if to help Governor Brown make his point, U.S. stock indexes took an obliging plunge. The Dow Jones average cratered in December, dropping nearly 16 percent in three...
The evidence is more than anecdotal. According to a recent study, business flight out of California has accelerated to an unprecedented level. In 2016, the year for which the most recent data is available, 1,800 businesses moved out or “disinvested” from California. This is the highest one-year total in the nine-year history of tracking by...
Californians need to act now on the new state Health Education Framework. In 2016, several doctors tore into new guidelines that promoted transgenderism in the Canadian province of Alberta. They refused to accept the new orthodoxy advanced by progressive activists that “gender is a social construct,” and insisted that identifying one’s gender as different from...
With Week #18 falling during the Christmas week, it is no surprise that the two best entries featured a holiday theme. The winner is Contessa Mendoza’s Christmas tree ornaments. The judges particularly liked her ironic caption: “Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree, how cancer causing are thee?”. Her caption led one of the judges to...
Few: “Teachers shouldn’t have to make a federal case out of this.” This article first appeared on FlashReport.org. Just in time for Christmas, the Los Angeles teachers union gave Thomas Few some good news: a refund of $433.31 dues he paid and the union’s promise to stop taking $80 per month from his paycheck. Few...
The typical analysis of state and local government finances is that they are primarily a function of the economy. When the economy is growing well, and especially when it is growing faster than expected, local and state government finances prosper. When the economy grows, more people are employed and employees have larger paychecks. State income...