Forget the scary pension future; study confirms the crisis is hitting now
Forget the scary pension future; study confirms the crisis is hitting now
Sacramento — Debates about California’s pension crisis almost always focus on the big numbers – the hundreds of billions of dollars (and, by some estimates, more than $1 trillion) in unfunded liabilities that plague the public-pension funds. For instance, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System is only 68 percent funded – meaning it only has...
By Steven Greenhut
California’s soaring poverty rates tied to its fiscal irresponsibility
California’s soaring poverty rates tied to its fiscal irresponsibility
Sacramento The U.S. Census Bureau’s latest statistics, released this month, find that California’s poverty rate remains the highest in the nation, despite dipping ever so slightly. The reason is no surprise: It’s tied largely to the state’s unusually high cost of living. Yet despite Democratic lawmakers’ oft-stated concern about rising income inequality, they spent the...
By Steven Greenhut
CalPERS’ Pension ‘Myths’ Busted
CalPERS’ Pension ‘Myths’ Busted
U CalPERS has quietly removed the controversial “Myths vs. Facts” page from its website, abruptly ending one of the agency’s efforts to soothe public anxiety about the cost of rising pension benefits to public employees. The page disappeared March 7. A spokesperson for CalPERS, the state agency that manages public employee retirement funds, said “Myths...
By Will Swaim
State Budget Could Be Capped by “Gann Limit,” Preventing New Taxes
State Budget Could Be Capped by “Gann Limit,” Preventing New Taxes
Editor’s Note: For a summary of how state legislators may be prevented by law from increasing taxes any further, this article by Jon Coupal is as good as any. In a nutshell, Prop. 4 (the “Gann Limit”), passed in 1979, then modified by Prop. 111, passed in 1990, limits increases in state and local spending...
By Jon Coupal
Questions for Someone Who Supports Superior Benefits for Government Workers
Questions for Someone Who Supports Superior Benefits for Government Workers
“Without disputing the figures, Monique Morrissey, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., said the findings are misleading because they do not compare specific classes of employees or account for differences in education levels and total hours worked.” California Is Golden State For Public Employees, by Michael Carroll, AMI Newswire, Jan. 31,...
By Edward Ring
Californians Approve $5 billion per Year in New Taxes
Californians Approve $5 billion per Year in New Taxes
For the last few years, using data provided by the watchdog organization CalTax, we have summarized the results of local bond and tax proposals appearing on the California ballot. Nearly all of them are approved by voters, and this past November was no exception. With only a couple of measures still too close to call,...
By Edward Ring