A bill quietly moving through the Legislature would gut California’s 2013 pension reforms and plunge the state back toward the kind of fiscal crisis that forced lawmakers to enact the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act (PEPRA) in an effort to stabilize a system that was spiraling out of control. AB 1383 (McKinnor) would expand the...
Last week, KCRA 3 in Sacramento reported that the Newsom administration’s January budget contained a roughly $2 billion accounting error tied to CalPERS pension contributions. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office flagged the problem in February. Legislative leaders knew. The public didn’t find out until April. The story is genuinely newsworthy, but not for the reason...
San Francisco and Portland are the only two US cities that tax companies if the pay ratio between the CEO and other employees is “too high.”. After agreeing to lower this tax in 2024 via Proposition M, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and its organized labor allies are pushing a ballot measure to raise...
California voters will decide this year whether the state will remain the global center of technology innovation or begin a steady decline. Their choice for governor and on a key ballot initiative will make the difference. The top three Democratic gubernatorial candidates enjoy strong backing from organized labor, including the state’s all-powerful public-employee unions. If...
The California High-Speed Rail Authority released its 2026 Draft Business Plan on February 28, two years after the prior plan and in a radically different environment than when that last plan was written. While quite detailed, the new plan raises serious questions that the Authority has not fully answered: about costs that keep growing, about...
The municipal financial crisis is more urgent than ever. It has been four years since my book, The Municipal Financial Crisis, was published by Palgrave Macmillan. I wrote the book to bring to light the root causes of why our local governments are failing to manage administratively, operationally, and financially. Looking back today, I find...
California’s high-speed rail project has never lacked for drama, but the challenges converging on the California High-Speed Rail Authority in early 2026 represent something qualitatively different from the delays, cost overruns, and political skirmishes that have defined the project for the better part of two decades. The Authority now faces a reckoning that is simultaneously...
California’s hospitals recorded $11.3 billion in total net income in 2024 — 10% above pre-pandemic levels. The average hospital CEO in the state earns roughly $920,000 a year. And the largest union representing healthcare workers collected $114.5 million in dues in 2024 alone, according to its federal LM-2 filing — spending just 16 cents of...
For years, cities have implemented various metrics and scoring systems to assess their fiscal condition. The Government Finance Officers Association provides a “Fiscal First Aid” program complete with a multi-step process for assessing fiscal health. Yet such efforts have not improved cities’ ability to manage their finances. A recent report by the National League of...
How is your city doing? My city just announced that it’s looking at putting two measures on the ballot to increase taxes and fees. And based on its low ranking, it either needs to reduce spending and debts or raise revenues or both. My city refused to reduce debts, so suggesting tax increases came as...
2026 began with revelations that numerous billionaires owning upwards of $1 trillion in assets had cut ties with California just before the ball dropped on January 1. These well-heeled folks did not suddenly get tired of California’s weather, scenery, culture, or social scene. Instead, they were avoiding a potential wealth tax hatched by a group...
It’s amazing what can happen in five years, especially when Gov. Gavin Newsom unilaterally imposed an overbearing pandemic lockdown on California’s school districts during this time period. And for an age group least likely to become ill with COVID-19. The coronavirus had a significant impact on local school district finances and they seemed to survive...