Political Stories Top stories  A political battle over California’s bullet train has ended with the release of money – The state finance department has cleared the way for a $713-million state grant to electrify a commuter rail system in the Bay Area, ending a political battle started earlier this year by California Republicans in […]
Political Stories Top stories  State lawmakers consider Brown’s gamble on pension money — As California lawmakers kick off their yearly scramble to pass a state budget, they have yet to agree on whether one controversial provision will make the cut: an untested $6 billion scheme that the governor says could save the state billions […]
Political Stories Top stories  Dan Walters: California courts do poorly in competition for funds – Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, her fellow judges and children’s advocacy groups have been trying for years to persuade Gov. Jerry Brown and legislators to provide more legal aid for 60,000 foster children. Walters column in Sacramento Bee  Your […]
Political Stories Top stories  John Myers: Trump’s budget presents new challenge to California’s long-suffering unemployment fund — After years of the state being deep in debt to the federal government for a loan covering the unemployment benefits of millions of Californians, state government officials have been promising the system was well on its way […]
Political Stories Top stories  Cost of keeping peace at Ann Coulter’s Modesto speech? Enough to support a family — The city released the records on policing the protest Thursday afternoon. They show the Modesto Police Department spent $48,273 in compensation for officers and other employees and the Stockton Police Department — which provided riot […]
Political Stories Top stories  Dan Walters: Brown right, anti-tax motorists are freeloaders — Roadways should be maintained with taxes and fees on those who use them. The user-pays principle is long established and fair, and deviating from it, as we have done by floating bond issues repaid from general revenues, is bad public policy. […]
Political Stories Top stories  Lawmakers may wait on Gov. Brown’s ambitious pension plan – one he wants now — As Sacramento kicks off its yearly scramble to pass a state budget, lawmakers have yet to agree whether one controversial provision will make the cut: an untested $6 billion scheme that the governor says could […]
Political Stories Top stories  California takes many hits, big and small, in Trump’s 2018 budget proposal – California loses big time in President Donald Trump’s proposed fiscal 2018 budget, made public to scathing political reviews Tuesday. Some Central Valley farm spending would fall. Nutrition programs would shrink. Certain school grants would be handcuffed, University […]
Political Stories Top stories  The price on universal health care is in, and it’s bigger than California’s budget — It would cost $400 billion per year to remake California’s health insurance marketplace and create a publicly funded universal heath care system, according to a state financial analysis released Monday. Sacramento Bee article; Sacramento Bee editorial; LA […]
Political Stories Top stories  Dan Walters: Borrowing scheme for CalPERS deserves more scrutiny — When local pension bonds have fallen short, Crane points out, borrowers then face double debts, one for the bond and the other for pensions. As Taylor advises, this may work out, but before the state takes a major plunge into […]
