San Francisco’s Financial Crisis

By Sheridan Swanson

05/26/2023

The State of California isn’t the only one scrambling to prepare a budget while staring down a deficit. Several Bay Area municipalities are also struggling with their own budget problems, San Francisco chief among them. San Francisco’s 2022-23 budget and next year’s 2023-24 budget total approximately $14 billion each. On March 31, the San Francisco...

TAGS: California budget, California state budget, Finance, Government Finance, Reparations, San Francisco

Newsom Wisely Avoids Transit Bailout in May Budget Revise

By Marc Joffe

05/16/2023

Governor Newsom’s FY 2023-24 budget update included a larger projected deficit and more balancing measures than his January budget. But, despite pressure from Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and transit agencies, the May Revise excluded emergency funding for local bus and rail systems around the state. The agencies’ proposed transit bailout was at best premature,...

TAGS: budget, California budget, California state budget, Gavin Newsom, state budget, Transportation, transportation infrastructure

Sacramento’s Mismanagement of Taxpayer Dollars

By Sheridan Swanson

05/11/2023

Leaders in Sacramento are grappling with the state budget this month as California faces a budget deficit of nearly $32 billion. Senate leaders claim they can address the deficit without cutting spending on state programs, but the reality is that a fiscal reckoning is long overdue. According to a survey released by the Public Policy...

TAGS: budget, California budget, California state budget, Gavin Newsom, state budget

A Surplus of Nonsense in the Governor’s Latest Budget

By John Moorlach

05/17/2022

There are two big days for a California governor, January 10 when the budget is presented and the May Revise when a few months of additional data and debate have passed. They’re both political documents, allowing governors to play with numbers. Few governors have been as sporting in that enterprise as Gavin Newsom. Last week,...

TAGS: California budget, John Moorlach, pension

Radio Free California Podcast Episode 201: Newsom’s Cabo Controversy

By Will Swaim

12/02/2021

French Laundry, the Getty Wedding, and now a family vacation in a Mexican resort remind us that our governor is auditorily challenged where political tone is involved. Eric Swalwell wants you vaccinated to protect his kids. Progressives threaten Feinstein over the filibuster. Dem’s federal budget includes tax breaks for government unions. Times are tough, but...

TAGS: California budget, Eric Swalwell, Feinstein, Gavin Newsom, Rivian

California’s Budget “Surplus” Ignores Crushing Debt Burden

By Edward Ring

01/09/2019

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...

TAGS: California budget, California debt

Government Created Energy Blackouts Coming to a City Near You

By Katy Grimes

06/13/2016

Most countries around the world think that it’s a good thing to have cheap energy. But in California, we have plenty of cheap energy available, just not the political will to access it. California depends on natural gas-driven turbines and hydroelectric generators to provide just 38 percent of its oil needs. The state imports 12 percent...

TAGS: California, California budget, California Legislature, cap and trade, debt, Democrats, economy, electricity, energy, Government, Jerry Brown, Katy Grimes, regulations, Sacramento

Budget Primer for California Citizen Taxpayers

By Jon Coupal

05/15/2016

Average taxpayers in California are probably aware that the state budget was in the news again over the weekend. But even folks who follow both Presidential politics and local issues probably couldn’t be blamed if they tune out stories about the California budget. It’s not that they don’t care. It’s just that public finance issues...

TAGS: California budget, gas tax

California’s Literacy Crisis

For decades, teachers, parents, academics, scientists, and curriculum developers have been engaged in a pitched battle over the best methods to implement effective, comprehensive and practical reading instruction. This controversy, dubbed the “reading wars,” has had lifelong consequences for a generation of students who have been hostages and unwitting casualties of the war. Experts believe...

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