Millions of public dollars and thousands of jobs are on the line, but the impact of the prevailing wage on municipal projects is more than the price tag.
It’s also about the constitution – and fairness.
At issue is a requirement that cities and local governments pay the prevailing wage when they build
Science and common sense, not ideology, needed in hydraulic fracturing discussion
Science and common sense are in a pitched battle against ideology here in California, where activists are pressuring state and local officials to ignore science and common sense and ban a hydraulic fracturing — a safe and proven technology that’s been used to
For Frank Spevacek, last Thursday was a long day indeed. After a full day at work, the La Quinta city manager headed to Sacramento to meet with the officials in the most powerful office in the state bureaucracy, the Department of Finance. The department writes the governor’s budgets, rides herd on billions of dollars of
When someone is in danger, or has been the victim of a crime, they call the police. Law enforcement’s ability to respond to these calls is a function of capacity—the number of police officers available to respond when those calls to 911 are made.
Much ado has been made about rising crime rates and
A record $16 billion in income tax revenue will flow into state coffers during April, according to predictions in Gov. Jerry Brown’s January budget plan.
About $5 billion of that $16 billion comes from higher taxes approved by voters in November through Proposition 30 — $4.5 billion in taxes owed for 2012 and $500
Long-awaited details are emerging of the Brown administration’s $18 billion effort to build twin tunnels underneath the Delta, as officials launched the rollout of a complex array of preliminary documents for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.
“The news today is that a plan is out,” Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Chuck Bonham said.
Nearly two years before voters go to the polls to decide the fate of a long-delayed plan to borrow $11.1 billion for water projects, the clock is ticking on negotiations over the potential proceeds and the size of the borrowing.
“This bond will have many of the elements of the measure certified more than
California school districts are illegally dipping into student meal funds, misappropriating millions of dollars intended to feed the state’s poorest children, according to a new report by the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes.
The California Department of Education recently ordered eight districts to repay nearly $170 million to their student meal programs. But
Report of Investigation into Discrepancies in Financial Reports Submitted by the California Department of Parks and Recreation
By Thomas M. Patton, Deputy Attorney General
(Ed’s Note: The full report with exhibits, witnesses’ interviews and other documentation is avaialble here.)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
California’s Natural Resources Agency issued a statement on July 20, 2012,
State health officials mismanaged a special child-protection program and violated the law when they contracted out for services instead of using in-house workers, the state’s top auditor reported in a sharply worded review.
State Auditor Elaine Howle said the state Department of Public Health and its predecessor, the Health Services Department, spent some $2.1