State Budget
California
California’s move away from retrogressive politics?
Public employee unions took a deserved beating when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Janus vs. AFSCME ruling, and their pain will eventually trickle down to the Democratic Party. The worst, though, is not over for them. What’s ahead has the potential to alter California’s political landscape. The 5-4 Court ...
Commentary
Choking on the Cost of ‘Medicare for All’
Last month, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an outspoken socialist, beat 10-term Congressman Joe Crowley, the fourth-highest-ranking House Democrat, in the primary election for New York’s 14th congressional district. Ocasio-Cortez is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and a former organizer for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign. She’s also a vocal ...
Commentary
States Must Save Themselves from Medicaid Expansion
This month, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill that will expand Medicaid coverage to roughly 400,000 low-income, able-bodied adults in the state. The governor praised the expansion as “the right thing for our people.” His heart may be in the right place. But Medicaid has a well-documented history of ...
Blog
This Year’s Budget Earns a “Participation Trophy”
It’s amazing what a difference one voter-approved proposition can make. The Legislature is poised again to pass a budget before the June 15 constitutional deadline. Gov. Brown has until June 30 to sign it into law. Budgets used to be a lengthy, messy fight at the Capitol. Back in the ...
Blog
Proposed Water Tax Dropped in State Budget Deal
Sacramento has been trying for some time now to add a 95-cents-a-month tax on drinking water to pay for “secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure.” Those dreams of more taxes were delayed last week, though, ...
Commentary
The State’s Dangerous Flirtation with Drug Rationing
Massachusetts may soon stop paying for some of the lifesaving medicines its poorest residents count on. State officials recently requested permission from the federal government to restructure MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program. If their waiver is approved, a small group of state bureaucrats will determine which drugs are off limits ...
Commentary
State Study of Single-Payer Care Wastes $100,000
Washington is the latest state to contemplate a government takeover of its health care system. The Evergreen State’s legislature just allocated $100,000 for a “study of single-payer and universal coverage health care systems.” They may as well have lit that money on fire. Several other states have explored implementing single-payer ...
Commentary
States Can’t Afford Medicaid Expansion — Neither Can Patients
This fall’s midterm election ballot just got a little longer in Utah. In mid-April, progressive activists announced that they’d gathered enough signatures to force a November referendum on Medicaid expansion. Utah isn’t the only red state flirting with extending free government health insurance to able-bodied, childless adults. Within weeks, activists in Idaho ...
California
Connie Conway – She’s Back! Former Assembly Republican Leader Takes On Sacramento’s Hot Topics
Former Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway always has an opinion about something. She joins us to discuss the hot issues on the agenda in Sacramento, including taxes, water storage, the state budget, and health care.
Blog
Today is California Tax Freedom Day
“April is the cruelest month,” wrote T.S. Eliot. It’s especially cruel for Californians because today, April 23, is the day when California taxpayers have collectively earned enough money to pay their federal, state, and local tax bill for the year, according to the Tax Foundation. After working for nearly four ...
California’s move away from retrogressive politics?
Public employee unions took a deserved beating when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Janus vs. AFSCME ruling, and their pain will eventually trickle down to the Democratic Party. The worst, though, is not over for them. What’s ahead has the potential to alter California’s political landscape. The 5-4 Court ...
Choking on the Cost of ‘Medicare for All’
Last month, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an outspoken socialist, beat 10-term Congressman Joe Crowley, the fourth-highest-ranking House Democrat, in the primary election for New York’s 14th congressional district. Ocasio-Cortez is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and a former organizer for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign. She’s also a vocal ...
States Must Save Themselves from Medicaid Expansion
This month, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill that will expand Medicaid coverage to roughly 400,000 low-income, able-bodied adults in the state. The governor praised the expansion as “the right thing for our people.” His heart may be in the right place. But Medicaid has a well-documented history of ...
This Year’s Budget Earns a “Participation Trophy”
It’s amazing what a difference one voter-approved proposition can make. The Legislature is poised again to pass a budget before the June 15 constitutional deadline. Gov. Brown has until June 30 to sign it into law. Budgets used to be a lengthy, messy fight at the Capitol. Back in the ...
Proposed Water Tax Dropped in State Budget Deal
Sacramento has been trying for some time now to add a 95-cents-a-month tax on drinking water to pay for “secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure.” Those dreams of more taxes were delayed last week, though, ...
The State’s Dangerous Flirtation with Drug Rationing
Massachusetts may soon stop paying for some of the lifesaving medicines its poorest residents count on. State officials recently requested permission from the federal government to restructure MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program. If their waiver is approved, a small group of state bureaucrats will determine which drugs are off limits ...
State Study of Single-Payer Care Wastes $100,000
Washington is the latest state to contemplate a government takeover of its health care system. The Evergreen State’s legislature just allocated $100,000 for a “study of single-payer and universal coverage health care systems.” They may as well have lit that money on fire. Several other states have explored implementing single-payer ...
States Can’t Afford Medicaid Expansion — Neither Can Patients
This fall’s midterm election ballot just got a little longer in Utah. In mid-April, progressive activists announced that they’d gathered enough signatures to force a November referendum on Medicaid expansion. Utah isn’t the only red state flirting with extending free government health insurance to able-bodied, childless adults. Within weeks, activists in Idaho ...
Connie Conway – She’s Back! Former Assembly Republican Leader Takes On Sacramento’s Hot Topics
Former Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway always has an opinion about something. She joins us to discuss the hot issues on the agenda in Sacramento, including taxes, water storage, the state budget, and health care.
Today is California Tax Freedom Day
“April is the cruelest month,” wrote T.S. Eliot. It’s especially cruel for Californians because today, April 23, is the day when California taxpayers have collectively earned enough money to pay their federal, state, and local tax bill for the year, according to the Tax Foundation. After working for nearly four ...
