Posts Tagged: local governments

Pensions for local public safety employees are skyrocketing

A tipped bottle with coins: An illustration of pension funding. (Photo: JeJai Images, via Shutterstock)

by MARCIA FRITZ posted 05.11.2021

OPINION: Growing public pension deficits have plagued our nation for years, but in the midst of some of the harshest fiscal blows from the pandemic, this problem is something we can no longer ignore. While California champions itself as a leader of positive change in the United States, we also happen to be the leader in skyrocketing pension obligations. And there are no signs of this unsustainable pattern slowing down.

Lawmakers: Don’t trash food recycling efforts

A landfill gas collection site in Sunnyvale. (Photo: Michael Vi, via Shutterstock)

by OSCAR GUTIERREZ posted 07.30.2020

OPINION: Reducing the amount of organic waste that is buried in California landfills is an environmental imperative. As state policy mandates, something has to be done to choke back the production of methane, the gas that is generated when table scraps, yard clippings and other organic materials decompose underground.

A critical need to prohibit commercial evictions

Businesses in Cambria line a street usually bustling with customers, but now deserted due to the coronavirus (Photo; randy andy, via Shutterstock)

by YSABEL JURADO posted 03.30.2020

OPINION: Under California’s police powers, Gov. Newsom’s gently named “Stay at Home” mandates the closure of all non-essential travel, activities and businesses. Small businesses have been inevitably forced to shutter their doors. Similarly, non-profits which account for 10% of the U.S. GDP and employ 12 million workers, are no doubt also affected.

PG&E by any other name: Golden State Power Light & Gas?

A utility worker handles repairs on a power pole. (Photo: Richard Thornton, via Shutterstock)

by LISAS RENNER posted 09.13.2019

PG&E’s reputation has been so battered over its wildfire liabilities and other problems that some think it should change its name. A group of bondholders trying to take over the utility company has proposed that they re-brand it to Golden State Power Light & Gas Co. They made the proposal during proceedings in PG&E’s bankruptcy court case earlier this year.

‘Split roll,’ the ghost of Prop. 13, haunts 2018

The late Paul Gann, center, and Howard Jarvis clasp their hands in victory as their ballot initiative, Proposition 13, takes a commanding lead on election night, June 7, 1978. (AP Photo)

by LISA RENNER posted 03.13.2018

Months after President Trump slashed corporations’ federal tax rate, a coalition of progressive California groups is hoping to raise their property taxes. The Schools and Communities First Coalition, which includes the League of Women Voters, Evolve California and other organizations, is seeking signatures to put an initiative on the ballot that would institute a “split roll” property tax system.

Cannabis: Locals must not neglect small businesses

An indoor marijuana grow in California. (Photo: Mitch M., via Shutterstock)

by DON SMITH posted 03.14.2018

OPINION: No one expected California’s legalization of recreational cannabis, barely two months’ old, to be without plenty of problems. In a mixed metaphor so often the trait of politicians, state Sen. Mike McGuire noted, “… as I have always said, this is a tall mountain to climb and we are currently building the airplane and flying it at the same time.”

Transportation plans stymied

A mid-1930s truck on a Kern County highway. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, Shutterstock)

by Mark Pisano and Sean Randolph posted 09.19.2016

OPINION: They blew it. Fifteen months ago, Governor Brown called the Legislature into special session to find new ways to pay for the state’s aging transportation system.