Image by eyegelbOPINION – The State of California General Fund budget more than doubled in size from $96.3 billion in fiscal year 2014 to $225.9 billion in fiscal year 2024 while the state population remained essentially flat. Do residents feel their state government services have doubled during this period? I doubt it.
On occasion, readers can find bills in the California Legislature that make “continuous appropriations.” What are these types of appropriations? Why are they used? How are they drafted by the attorneys at the Office of Legislative Counsel?
Image by Drazen ZigicOPINION – While we understand creative solutions are necessary to pull California out of its current budget situation, and we’re not the only community that could be hit hard with cuts and delays, the reality is that our state’s most vulnerable population is at risk. It’s critical policymakers and the Administration take a closer look at what programs and services they are considering and how those served would be impacted.
Image by esferaLike all things with government, there are a plethora of rules related to the California budget process. The provisions of law related to the State Budget are primarily contained in Section 12 of Article IV of the state Constitution. What are these provisions?
Image by OPINION – California has experienced an alarming decline in available dollars for the Crime Victims Fund. These sharp drops in funding for California nonprofits will directly result in victims of crime not being able to access much-needed services.
Image by DedMityay via ShutterstockDoes California have to adopt a “balanced budget”? The short answer is yes. But there are several interesting aspects to this legal requirement.
Image by Olivier Le Moal via ShutterstockLawmakers must work together to commit the funding and ensure that low-income communities are not left out of the state’s clean energy transition.
A photo illustration of California's tax code. (Image: Vitalii Vodolazskyi, via Shutterstock)OPINION: As part of the 2020-21 state budget accord, the governor and Legislature enacted AB 85, a budget trailer bill that enacted several tax law changes, including a three-year suspension of the net operating loss deduction and a cap on the use of business tax credits.
Downtown Placerville, Calif. (Photo: Laurens Hoddenbagh, via Shutterstock)OPINION: The recent flurry of stories about small business woes often miss an important part of the picture: Small businesses’ role in helping fund government’s important responsibilities. Consider the City of Placerville. Located in El Dorado County with the original colorful Gold Rush era monikers, the sometimes controversial Hangtown and the more staid Dry Diggings, the city is a tourist draw housing a number of buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.
The state Capitol in Sacramento, late in the day. (Photo: Adonis Villanueva, via Shutterstock)A bipartisan group of state legislators are urging increased funding for California’s 84 rape crisis centers as reports of sexual assault and domestic violence rise under COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders.