State Budget
Blog
Will State Budget Be Victim of Coronavirus?
The uncertainty over the coronavirus has negatively impacted the financial markets. Hit the hardest in the short term have been the travel and hospitality industries – with much talk of layoffs, bankruptcies, and industry bailouts. The Dow Jones and Nasdaq have entered bear territory, falling more than 20 percent in ...
Blog
Bankruptcy Deadline May Not Save PG&E from State Takeover
Reeling from multiple massive state wildfires that its actions likely triggered, Pacific Gas & Electric, or PG&E, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this time last year. The investor-owned utility faces a June 30, 2020 deadline to come up with a plan to come out of bankruptcy, address the estimated $25 ...
Commentary
Gavin Newsom’s single-payer commission is doomed to fail
Last week, Gavin Newsom’s Healthy California for All Commission convened for the first time. The commission has been tasked with figuring out how to install a single-payer healthcare system statewide. The commission’s 13 voting and five non-voting members represent a who’s-who of big-government academics, union leaders, and public health officials. ...
Blog
Coming to a March Primary Ballot Near You – More Ballot Box Budgeting
The March primary election is a month away. While we are already being bombarded with television advertising for the Democratic presidential race, there hasn’t been much discussion of ballot measures. That’s because in 2011, Democrats in the Legislature enacted a law moving all statewide ballot initiatives to the November ballot, ...
California
Adam Andrzejewski – Open the Books
Adam Andrzejewski is the founder of Open the Books, an organization dedicated to transparency in government. Open the Books has been at the forefront of holding state government accountable for how it spends taxpayer money. In California, Governor Newsom’s most recent state budget plan proposed $222 billion in General Fund ...
Blog
California Governor Never Met a Task Force He Didn’t Like
If you were able to make it through California Governor Gavin Newsom’s almost three-hour budget briefing, you’ve probably been following the enormous funding proposals included in the $222.2 billion budget estimate. You can save 167 minute of your time and read the blog post by PRI’s Tim Anaya. Governor Newsom ...
Blog
Taxpayers Exhausted from Newsom’s Marathon Budget Presser
Gov. Newsom’s announcement of his 2020-21 State Budget plan on Friday was another whopper, his speech clocking in at roughly 2 hours and 47 minutes. Last year, reporters who were used to covering a 30 minute press conference where caught off guard by Newsom’s lengthy presentation. Los Angeles Times reporter ...
Blog
A Bearish View on California’s Budget Surplus
Last week the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) published its latest fiscal outlook for California. The headlines were so great that you could almost hear the champagne corks popping in Sacramento. Not only has the state budget in California run surpluses for several years now, the LAO expects another surplus for ...
Commentary
State-Led Medicare For All Would Import All Of Canada’s Problems
Medicare for All is struggling to gain traction at the national level. Some progressives are hoping that left-leaning states will instead be able to lead the way. This month, California Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna introduced the “State-Based Universal Health Care Act,” a bill that would let states take all the ...
Blog
Local Officials Could Learn Something from LA Student Savings Account Push
With great fanfare, the Los Angeles City Council – in partnership with the LA Unified School District – last week enacted new pilot program called “Opportunity LA” to establish “children’s savings accounts” for every first grader in the city. The accounts would be seeded with $50 for every student. According ...
Will State Budget Be Victim of Coronavirus?
The uncertainty over the coronavirus has negatively impacted the financial markets. Hit the hardest in the short term have been the travel and hospitality industries – with much talk of layoffs, bankruptcies, and industry bailouts. The Dow Jones and Nasdaq have entered bear territory, falling more than 20 percent in ...
Bankruptcy Deadline May Not Save PG&E from State Takeover
Reeling from multiple massive state wildfires that its actions likely triggered, Pacific Gas & Electric, or PG&E, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this time last year. The investor-owned utility faces a June 30, 2020 deadline to come up with a plan to come out of bankruptcy, address the estimated $25 ...
Gavin Newsom’s single-payer commission is doomed to fail
Last week, Gavin Newsom’s Healthy California for All Commission convened for the first time. The commission has been tasked with figuring out how to install a single-payer healthcare system statewide. The commission’s 13 voting and five non-voting members represent a who’s-who of big-government academics, union leaders, and public health officials. ...
Coming to a March Primary Ballot Near You – More Ballot Box Budgeting
The March primary election is a month away. While we are already being bombarded with television advertising for the Democratic presidential race, there hasn’t been much discussion of ballot measures. That’s because in 2011, Democrats in the Legislature enacted a law moving all statewide ballot initiatives to the November ballot, ...
Adam Andrzejewski – Open the Books
Adam Andrzejewski is the founder of Open the Books, an organization dedicated to transparency in government. Open the Books has been at the forefront of holding state government accountable for how it spends taxpayer money. In California, Governor Newsom’s most recent state budget plan proposed $222 billion in General Fund ...
California Governor Never Met a Task Force He Didn’t Like
If you were able to make it through California Governor Gavin Newsom’s almost three-hour budget briefing, you’ve probably been following the enormous funding proposals included in the $222.2 billion budget estimate. You can save 167 minute of your time and read the blog post by PRI’s Tim Anaya. Governor Newsom ...
Taxpayers Exhausted from Newsom’s Marathon Budget Presser
Gov. Newsom’s announcement of his 2020-21 State Budget plan on Friday was another whopper, his speech clocking in at roughly 2 hours and 47 minutes. Last year, reporters who were used to covering a 30 minute press conference where caught off guard by Newsom’s lengthy presentation. Los Angeles Times reporter ...
A Bearish View on California’s Budget Surplus
Last week the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) published its latest fiscal outlook for California. The headlines were so great that you could almost hear the champagne corks popping in Sacramento. Not only has the state budget in California run surpluses for several years now, the LAO expects another surplus for ...
State-Led Medicare For All Would Import All Of Canada’s Problems
Medicare for All is struggling to gain traction at the national level. Some progressives are hoping that left-leaning states will instead be able to lead the way. This month, California Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna introduced the “State-Based Universal Health Care Act,” a bill that would let states take all the ...
Local Officials Could Learn Something from LA Student Savings Account Push
With great fanfare, the Los Angeles City Council – in partnership with the LA Unified School District – last week enacted new pilot program called “Opportunity LA” to establish “children’s savings accounts” for every first grader in the city. The accounts would be seeded with $50 for every student. According ...
