Pensions

Elizabeth Warren’s Private Equity Plan May Harm Public Employees

Elizabeth Warren’s Private Equity Plan May Harm Public Employees

Last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a 2020 presidential candidate, proposed a plan to rein in private equity funds that engage in leveraged buyouts—acquiring companies with large amounts of borrowed money. Although the idea of cracking down on financial engineering is attractive to many, it could have the unintended consequence of lowering asset returns for public...

By Marc Joffe

Six facts about state and national teachers’ unions

Six facts about state and national teachers’ unions

As anyone who’s been a public school teacher can tell you, plenty of false messages circulate about union membership: whether it’s required, why it exists, and whom it benefits (or harms). Free to Teach wants you to know what’s up. Below are six of the most common issues the major state and national teachers’ unions don’t...

By Editorial Staff

A Strategy to Transform California in One Election

A Strategy to Transform California in One Election

As a statewide political force, California’s conservative voters are disenfranchised. Almost no politicians holding state office speak for conservatives, few court rulings favor conservatives, and nearly everywhere, conservative values are discredited or ignored by a hostile press. But California’s political landscape could be poised for dramatic shifts. Even now, after more than a decade of...

By Edward Ring

The Investicrats

The Investicrats

The great education spending swindle is never-ending for the teachers unions. Their whine never stops. While I and many others have been writing about the enormous sum of money spent on education for years, the “investicrats,” those who constantly demand that even more must be allocated, show no sign of leaving the building. Perhaps the...

By Larry Sand

L.A.’s Measure EE defeat: What happened and what’s next

L.A.’s Measure EE defeat: What happened and what’s next

LAUSD parcel tax measure goes down, and the district is still in charge…for now.  If you live in Los Angeles, the thud you heard last Tuesday was the Los Angeles Unified School District’s parcel tax measure crashing to earth. Its goal was to raise $500 million annually over a 12-year period. Thus, owners of large...

By Larry Sand

Oakland trio cleared over $1.6 million in pay and benefits last year, new data show

Oakland trio cleared over $1.6 million in pay and benefits last year, new data show

An Oakland fire captain, a police officer, and a civil engineer each made over $500,000 in pay and benefits last year, according to newly released 2018 pay data published on TransparentCalifornia.com. The city’s top earner was Fire Captain Lawrence Hom, who cleared $557,655 in total compensation thanks in large part to an agency-high $309,185 overtime payment. Police officer Malcolm...

By Robert Fellner

How AB 195 May Help Restore “Impartiality” to Local Ballot Language

How AB 195 May Help Restore “Impartiality” to Local Ballot Language

Every two years in November, California’s local agencies ask the voters to approve hundreds of new taxes and bonds. California’s primary ballot every other June also features dozens, if not hundreds of new requests for local tax increases and borrowing. And in times of dire urgency, special elections are called. For example, this Tuesday, June...

By Edward Ring

Public Sector Unions – The Other Deep State

Public Sector Unions – The Other Deep State

When government fails, public-sector unions win. When society fragments, public-sector unions consolidate their power. When citizenship itself becomes less meaningful, and the benefits of American citizenship wither, government unions offer an exclusive solidarity. Government unions insulate their members from the challenges facing ordinary private citizens. On every major issue of our time; globalization, immigration, climate...

By Edward Ring

City of Oxnard Pension Contributions Set to Double by 2024

City of Oxnard Pension Contributions Set to Double by 2024

As reported by the Ventura County Star, the City of Oxnard faces budget headwinds. Quoted in the article, Mayor Tim Flynn had this to say: We’re making decisions that should have been made 10, 20 years ago to put the city on a sustainable path,” Flynn said. “These are very painful cuts, but we have to...

By Edward Ring

Los Angeles Unified School Dysfunction

Los Angeles Unified School Dysfunction

More bad news from the nation’s second largest school district. According to a report released last week, less than half of the 2019 Los Angeles Unified School District graduating class will be eligible to attend one of the state’s public universities. There are 15 essential “A–G” courses, including English, math, and science that students need...

By Larry Sand

California Rule Does Not Protect “Airtime”

California Rule Does Not Protect “Airtime”

Earlier this week the California Supreme Court ruled in the case CalFire vs CalPERS. The case challenged one of the provisions of California’s 2014 pension reform legislation (PEPRA) which had eliminated the purchase of “Airtime.” This was the practice whereby retiring public employees could purchase “service credits” that would lengthen the number of years they worked,...

By Edward Ring

California’s Budget “Surplus” Ignores Crushing Debt Burden

California’s Budget “Surplus” Ignores Crushing Debt Burden

California’s new governor, Gavin Newsom, delivered an inaugural address earlier this week that accurately reflected the mentality of his supporters. Triumphalist, defiant, and filled with grand plans. But are these plans grand, or grandiose? Will Governor Newsom try to deliver everything he promised during his campaign, and if so, can California’s state government really deliver...

By Edward Ring

Public Servant Who Made $327,491 in 2017 Asks Us to Support Higher Taxes

Public Servant Who Made $327,491 in 2017 Asks Us to Support Higher Taxes

Every two years, around this time, political mailers inundate the mailboxes of California’s registered voters. This week, many Sacramento residents received “Vote No on Prop 6″ mailer. Prop 6 is that pesky, subversive citizens ballot initiative that, if approved by voters, will roll back the gas tax. But Prop. 6 isn’t the topic here. Rather,...

By Edward Ring

Just How Much Money Might CalPERS Have to Collect in an Economic Downturn?

Just How Much Money Might CalPERS Have to Collect in an Economic Downturn?

When evaluating the financial challenges facing California’s state and local public employee pension funds, a compelling question to consider is when, exactly when, will these funds financially collapse? That is, of course, an impossible question to answer. CalPERS, for example, manages hundreds of billions in assets, which means that long before it literally runs out...

By Edward Ring