Looming Deficits Present Another Opportunity to Offer Solutions for California

By Edward Ring
12/01/2022
Just a few months ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom was bragging about California’s “$100 billion budget surplus.” At the same time, the California Policy Center was pointing out that the governor’s “surplus” was fantasy – that state and local governments owed about $1.6 trillion. In those heady days, however, with obliging media cheering him on, Newsom...

TAGS: California debt, California state budget, Government Spending, state budget

Inflation-adjusted per capita state spending doubles in one decade – for what?

By Edward Ring
06/16/2022
The California State Legislature has just released the “Floor Report of the 2022-2023 Budget,” and it’s a doozy. Representing an agreement between the budget committees of the Assembly and the Senate, and building on Governor Newsom’s proposal, this $300 billion monstrosity has moved one step closer to becoming final. To fully appreciate how out of...

TAGS: budget, California state budget, Edward Ring, state budget

California Dystopia Update: The January 2020 edition

By Chris Reed
01/14/2020
On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom presented a 2020-21 state budget that includes more money for K-12 public schools than ever before. But even as metrics-driven education reforms over the past quarter-century have paid major dividends in both union states (Massachusetts, New Jersey) and non-union states (Florida, Texas), California lawmakers have never seriously considered trying to...

TAGS: Chris Reed, Gavin Newsom, homelessness, pensions, Sacramento, schools, state budget, Unions

Single-payer bill could bankrupt California

By Marc Joffe
06/05/2017
The state Senate’s vote to pass Ricardo Lara’s single-payer healthcare bill last week was a singular act of fiscal malpractice. By failing to control costs and access to the program – and by leaving unanswered how or whether federal funds could be leveraged – Lara’s Healthy California Act amounts to a blank check for hospitals,...

TAGS: single-payer, state budget