Budget and Finance
Back to homepageFive candidates for California State University Chancellor
May 31, 2012 By John Hrabe After fourteen years as head of the nation’s largest higher education system, Cal State University Chancellor Charles Reed is calling it quits. Reed’s tenure has been praised by the insular higher education community. He’s
Read MoreFuel stations for nonexistent cars
May 31, 2012 By Joseph Perkins If you build it, they will come. That was the cockeyed reasoning behind a state grant program to encourage construction of hydrogen fueling stations long before hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are actually motoring along
Read MoreBankruptcy bill stuck in Assembly
May 30, 2012 By Katy Grimes Californians can heave a sigh of relief for the moment; the Assembly did not pass the latest bill preventing cities and municipalities from filing for bankruptcy. But don’t think that this bill is dead
Read More“Debacle:” Obama’s space alien movie made in California
May 29, 2012 By Wayne Lusvardi President Barack Obama’s “stimulus” flying saucer landed in California in February 2009. This isn’t something from Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.” It’s the actual description from Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist.
Read MoreCA debt much larger than reported
May 29, 2012 By Katy Grimes Reports of California’s debt usually just include the $17 billion budget deficit. But California also owes the federal government $14 billion, and public schools $10 billion. While California sputters under the massive debt, legislators
Read MoreGrowing CA’s education welfare system
May 25, 2012 By Katy Grimes SACRAMENTO — Democratic Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, has been pushing unusually hard to get a tax bill passed, but it’s not looking good. There is no getting around the fact that AB 1500,
Read MoreJerry Brown’s deficit teeter-totter game
May 23, 2012 By Wayne Lusvardi Imagine a teeter-totter with a chubby boy on one end and a thin boy on the other. The teeter-totter can be balanced either by two chubby boys or two thin boys. It can be
Read MoreHollywood seeks more taxpayer subsidies
May 23, 2012 By Joseph Perkins The California Film Commission is holding a lottery next week for filmmakers and television producers. The lucky winners will share $100 million worth of taxpayer subsidies. It’s part of the state’s three-year-old Film and
Read MoreState may consider taxing services
May 22, 2012 By Dave Roberts Hold on to your wallet — Sacramento may be hatching yet another way to reach into your pocket: a state sales tax on services. Assemblywoman Alyson Huber, D-El Dorado Hills, has authored AB 1963,
Read MoreEast Bay second Cal State foundation to file questionable tax returns
May 21, 2012 By John Hrabe With 427,000 students and 44,000 staff on 23 campuses, the California State University System is the nation’s largest higher education system. But from Los Angeles to San Francisco, Cal State is raising tuition, cutting
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