Rebuilding California’s Infrastructure (Financing Models & Recommendations)
Rebuilding California’s Infrastructure (Financing Models & Recommendations)
Part 6 of 6 Part Series This is Part Six of “Rebuilding California’s Infrastructure,” to access the other five sections, click on the links below. To access the entire six-part study in a single, printable PDF document, DOWNLOAD HERE. Part One: Introduction Part Two: Water Reuse Part Three: Water Storage Part Four: Desalination Part Five: Energy...
By Jill Eicher
California Cities Facing Huge Pension Increases from CalPERS
California Cities Facing Huge Pension Increases from CalPERS
In their most recent actuarial reports CalPERS for the first time provided pension cost estimates for the next 8 years, from 2015 to 2023. How high are these costs going for California’s cities who retroactively increased their pensions at CalPERS urging over the past 15 years? To answer that question I looked at the largest...
By Ken Churchill
California’s Misguided Water Conservation Priorities
California’s Misguided Water Conservation Priorities
If you’ve recently driven on most any California freeway, you’ve seen the default message on the government-owned electronic billboards, “Severe Drought Conditions – Reduce Outdoor Water Use.” The message seems reasonable enough. Several years of lower-than-average rainfall have left the state’s reservoirs depleted, so why should households be wasting water, indoor or outdoor? And if...
By Edward Ring
How a Major Market Correction Will Affect Pension Systems, and How to Cope
How a Major Market Correction Will Affect Pension Systems, and How to Cope
Summary: Based on historical trends, three key aggregated stock market ratios – price/earnings, price/sales, and price as a percent of GDP – all show that publicly traded U.S. stock are overvalued by approximately 50%. This article explains the significance of these ratios, then, using a financial model developed specifically for this purpose, evaluates the impact...
By Edward Ring
UC Berkeley’s ‘income inequality’ critics earn in top 2%
UC Berkeley’s ‘income inequality’ critics earn in top 2%
Scholars from the University of California at Berkeley have played a pivotal role in making income inequality a major political issue. But while they decry the inequities of the American capitalist system, Berkeley professors are near the top of a very lopsided income distribution prevailing at the nation’s leading public university.
By Marc Joffe
Comparing Federal and California State Retirement Exposures
Comparing Federal and California State Retirement Exposures
Californians may be accustomed to living with the specter of a public pension crisis. But the federal government’s problem with its retirement system – including Social Security – is far worse, and yet none of the three remaining major-party candidates for president has a plan to do anything about it. The California Policy Center generally...
By Marc Joffe
Comparing Fresno City and County Pension Systems
Comparing Fresno City and County Pension Systems
As the Fresno Bee recently reported, the city of Fresno’s pension systems are in much better financial shape than the Fresno County Employees’ Retirement Association (FCERA). As of June 30, 2015, the city’s two systems reported a combined $349 million of assets (at market value) in excess of actuarially accrued liabilities. By contrast, FCERA’s assets...
By California Policy Center
The Coming Public Pension Apocalypse, and What to Do About It
The Coming Public Pension Apocalypse, and What to Do About It
When the next market downturn hits, every public employee pension fund in the United States will face severe challenges. Because public employee pension funds are not subject to the same rules that private pension funds have to adhere to – namely, the restrictions on risky investments as specified in the federal Employee Retirement Income Security...
By Edward Ring
Pension burden in 5 California counties now over 10%
Pension burden in 5 California counties now over 10%
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....
By Marc Joffe
How CalPERS has Created a Ticking Time Bomb
How CalPERS has Created a Ticking Time Bomb
During the Stockton bankruptcy Judge Klein called CalPERS the “bully with a glass jaw.” Klein meant that CalPERS, as a servicing company, has no standing in the bankruptcy because the pension obligation is between the public agency and their employees and retirees.
By Ken Churchill
California Ranks 50th in State Spending Transparency: What We Can Do About It
California Ranks 50th in State Spending Transparency: What We Can Do About It
Although many California political leaders espouse their support for transparency, the state lags behind most others in opening its spending data to public scrutiny. So while Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, has called on governments to “lean into notion of openness and transparency,” the state he may soon lead is leaning in quite the opposite direction....
By Marc Joffe
Will California Voters Support Pension Reform?
Will California Voters Support Pension Reform?
A bipartisan coalition led by former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and former City Councilman Carl DeMaio have filed a pension reform ballot measure in California. The group seeks to qualify the measure for a possible November 2016 vote by California voters. The California Policy Center examined polling conducted by a variety of sources and...
By Carl DeMaio
"For the Kids" – Comprehensive Review of California School Bonds, Executive Summary (Section 1 of 9)
"For the Kids" – Comprehensive Review of California School Bonds, Executive Summary (Section 1 of 9)
See the complete California Policy Center report For the Kids: California Voters Must Become Wary of Borrowing Billions More from Wealthy Investors for Educational Construction (complete, printable PDF Version, 4 MB, 361 pages) Links to all sections of this study readable online: You are Here: Executive Summary: “For the Kids” – Comprehensive Review of California School Bonds (1 of 9) More Borrowing for...
By Kevin Dayton
More Borrowing for California Educational Construction in 2016 (Section 2 of 9)
More Borrowing for California Educational Construction in 2016 (Section 2 of 9)
See the complete California Policy Center report For the Kids: California Voters Must Become Wary of Borrowing Billions More from Wealthy Investors for Educational Construction (complete, printable PDF Version, 4 MB, 361 pages) Links to all sections of this study readable online: Executive Summary: “For the Kids” – Comprehensive Review of California School Bonds (1 of 9)...
By Kevin Dayton