Investigation-Budget and FinanceCPUC Floats $3.4 Billion Green Water TaxFriday, March 4th, 2011 MARCH 4, 2011 BY WAYNE LUSVARDI Call it the Green Water Tax. It's a proposal advanced in a White Paper on the Web site of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to impose a $3.4 billion surcharge on the energy-related costs to pump and treat water. The new surcharge -- effectively ... Pensions Before The Poor!Monday, February 28th, 2011 FEB. 28, 2011 By TROY ANDERSON For years, officials in California have used accounting gimmicks, stimulus funds and the state credit card to keep the safety net intact. But experts say the state may have run out of tricks. Facing a $25 billion state budget shortfall, Gov. Jerry Brown has... Courts’ 2-Billion-Buck IT BustTuesday, February 22nd, 2011 FEB. 22, 2011 By KATY GRIMES While courtrooms across the state are being closed, courthouse employees furloughed and criminal and civil cases taking record time to come to trial, the Administrative Office of the Courts refuses to halt the implementation of a $1.9 billion computer system. After... Pensions May Be ‘Touchable’Friday, February 11th, 2011 FEB. 11, 2011 By TROY ANDERSON The prevailing wisdom holds that existing public pensions – once converted into Cadillac plans – can’t be turned back into Oldsmobiles. For decades, union officials have repeated the mantra that government agencies can’t modify or reduce pension... End Redevelopment ‘Luxury’?Monday, January 31st, 2011 JAN. 31, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI We live in a virtual age of images that sometimes doesn’t reflect reality. Redevelopment agencies across the state are blitzing newspapers with online images of a group of elderly persons in a senior citizen housing project watching TV that purportedly wou... Does Prop 25 Change Anything?Friday, December 17th, 2010 DEC. 17, 2010 By ANTHONY PIGNATARO The promise of Proposition 25 was nothing short of a revolution in how California lawmakers negotiate and approve state budgets. “Real people suffer when legislators play games with the budget,” stated the official argument in favor of the measure. ... California’s New DepressionFriday, December 3rd, 2010 DEC. 3, 2010 By JOHN SEILER As California approaches a new year, with a new governor and other statewide officers, it's worth reviewing what I call "California economic realities." These are the factors which, at all levels, affect the state's economy, from the state treasury and venture capit... Texas Beats California on EconomyThursday, November 18th, 2010 NOV. 18, 2010 By JOHN SEILER In the competition between America's two most populous states, California has two recent victories over Texas. In the World Series, the San Francisco Giants stomped on the Texas Rangers. And on election day, Nov. 2, the Silicon Valley venture capitalists who... Brown’s Job Got Twice as HardThursday, November 11th, 2010 NOV. 12, 2010 By JOHN SEILER Less than a month ago, on Oct. 18, Moody's Investor Service issued a report calculating California's situation as "at least $12 billion in future budget gaps." Now, the nonpartisan California Legislative Analyst's Office released a report calculating a def... CalPERS’ Ailing Long-Term Care PlanThursday, September 16th, 2010 SEPT. 16, 2010 By ANTHONY PIGNATARO For a long-term care benefit plan, the news has mostly been bad. Last year saw a huge budget deficit of more than $800 million, the biggest since 2007. Eight of the last 10 years have been in the red. The plan’s investment portfolio lost 16.2 percent o... |