Posts Tagged: billion

Survey: Brown, Legislature on a roll

State Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: David Monniaux)

by PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA posted 01.30.2014

Californians give Governor Jerry Brown a record-high job approval rating and his budget proposal strong bipartisan support, according to a statewide survey released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), with funding from The James Irvine Foundation. The state legislature’s approval rating is a near-record 42 percent among adults and is at 33 percent among likely voters. Both ratings are similar to December. Asked to rate the job performance of their own state legislators, 48 percent of adults and 45 percent of likely voters approve. (Photo: David Monniaux)

Chief justice to Brown: Courts need money

by SAMANTHA GALLEGOS posted 01.15.2014

State Supreme Court Tani Cantil-Sakauye says Gov. Brown’s draft budget doesn’t provide sufficient funding for California’s sprawling court system, which has been battered by years of cuts and complaints about its spending. The chief justice on Tuesday unveiled a proposed three-year plan to fund the courts. (Above: State Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye. (Photo: Samantha Gallegos/Capitol Weekly)

Most California public pension funds have the power to raise annual employer rates when they need more money. The California State Teachers Retirement System, a century old this year, is an outlier that needs legislation to raise rates. As lawmakers at the Capitol struggled with budget cuts during a deep economic recession, pleas for a CalSTRS rate increase were not acknowledged with a legislative hearing until last year.

Providing up to 1.4 million driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants will cost $65 million for the Department of Motor Vehicles during the first six months after the law takes effect January 1, 2015, according to Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget plan. DMV plans five new temporary offices to handle the load.

Gov. Brown summarily rejected the notion of a per-barrel tax on California oil as it comes from the ground, a move that sharply limits the political options of the tax’s backers who hoped to get a bill through the Legislature to raise perhaps $2 billion annually.

Brown unveils new spending plan

Gov. Brown unveils 2014-15 state budget plan.

by JOHN HOWARD posted 01.09.2014

Gov. Brown has proposed a $106.8 billion state budget for the fiscal year beginning in July that reflects an improving economy, bumps public school funding by more than $6 billion and makes no mention of a $990 million universal kindergarten program sought by legislative Democrats. (Photo: Samantha Gallegos/Capitol Weekly)

Do water woes help 2014 bond?

by SAMANTHA GALLEGOS posted 12.25.2013

But even as the rain clouds appear sparse, there may be a silver lining for the backers of a major ballot measure: Experts say the grim outlook could spur voters to approve a multibillion-dollar bond facing voters in November 2014. It could bring to reality the need to borrow money and resolve some of the state’s water issues. (Photo: Lower American River, USFWS)

OPINION: Just as patients don’t want to see a $15 charge for an aspirin on their hospital bill, hospitals don’t want to charge patients those prices. Hospital pricing has evolved because of decades of government regulations, cost shifts to private payers and unfunded government mandates (including expensive seismic retrofitting), inadequate Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, and the obligation for hospitals to treat all patients, regardless of ability to pay.

A bumpy ride on the bullet train

California bullet train. (Illustration: High Speed Rail Authority)

by SUMMER PARKERPERRY posted 12.11.2013

The latest actions are far from conclusive but they may force delays in the project, which is scheduled to be completed by 2028 to link San Francisco and Los Angeles through the Central Valley. High-speed rail has long been popular in Europe and Asia, but earlier efforts in the U.S. to develop high-speed rail have failed in Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. (Photo: High Speed Rail Authority).