Posts Tagged: money

News

Money, chicanery fuel college admissions uproar

The life-size bronze statue of Tommy Trojan on the campus of the University of Southern California. (Photo: Kit Leonjg, via Shutterstock)

It’s pretty much all there: money, celebrity, scandal, more money, cheating, coaches being bribed — advantage layered over advantage. In what federal law enforcement officials say is the “largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice,” federal prosecutors have accused dozens of wealthy  parents of making at least $25 million in illegal payments in one form or another to get their unqualified children into select colleges.

News

PPIC: Federal money, California and the census

An illustration of the 2020 census. (Image: Maria Dryfout, via Shutterstock)

In the most recent year for which an estimate is available (2015), California received about $77 billion in census-related funding—more than 80% of the total federal funds the state received that year. A number of federal programs draw on population estimates derived from the 2010 Census to calculate the share of federal funding for each state. The 2020 Census will soon update these estimates.

Opinion

Clock ticking on desert protection

Sunrise in the Mojave Desert, CAstle Peaks. (Photo: sierralara, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: The window of opportunity is rapidly closing for Senate Leader Toni Atkins and the California Legislature to save the Mojave Desert from Cadiz, Inc.’s reckless plan to suck the water out from under one of the Earth’s driest places and sell it to water golf courses and suburban lawns as far away as Orange County. Killed by Barack Obama and revived by Donald Trump, the water mining project would dramatically overdraw the aquifer below the desert and almost certainly stop the flow of water to the springs that preserve the Mojave’s fragile biodiversity.

News

Community health centers battle for funding

Lisa Zeelander, a medical doctor at Valley Community Healthcare in North Hollywood, examines patient Pamela Richardson, 60, on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016. (Photo: Heidi de Marco/KHN)

It’s been nearly two weeks since a crucial deadline passed to continue funding for community health centers, the nonprofit facilities that deliver care to the poor and uninsured in California and across the country. Congress is still squabbling over the details, advocates are still scrambling to get the funding renewed and the centers are starting to plan for the bottom line.

News

Bail: A fight to remove the price tag

A judge's gavel and money -- two elements of the bail process. (Photo: AVN Photo Lab)

Bail is supposed to make sure that a defendant returns for the court date, although critics say bail merely punishes people for being poor. Legislation is moving through the Capitol to try to resolve this issue, but it is fiercely opposed by the bail agents and bounty hunters who make their living assuring the courts that skittish defendants will show up.

News

Some anti-drought programs face cuts

A woman fills nher bottle with spring water flowing over rocks. (Photo: Wollertz, via Shutterstock)

For the past 5 years, parched Californians suffered through the state’s worst drought. Wildfires, reduced crop production, environmental damage, cities running dry – all were part of the misery. But with the drought now broken by an unprecedented wet season and snowpack, it’s possible to look back and see the positives, especially when it comes to the state budget.

News

Medi-Cal faces major funding cuts

Doctors and nurses guide a young patient on a gurney down a hospital corridor. (Photo: Spotmatik LTD, via Shutterstock)

Billions of dollars for California’s health care system serving 13 million poor and young people would be slashed dramatically under a GOP-backed proposal in Congress supported by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other top Republicans.

Opinion

Memo to Congress: Protect our kids’ vision

A young boy taking a vision exam. (Photo: GWImages, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: California’s optometrists have a prescription for our members of Congress this year: Don’t lose sight of our children’s vision. As discussions about the Affordable Care Act take center stage with a new President and new Congress in January, children’s vision is a prime example of the comprehensive and economically sound approach to health that is at risk if the ACA is repealed without a replacement.

News

‘Special master’ appointed to eye State Bar

An attorney gives advice to a client via a cell phone. Photo: PhuShutter)

A special master has been named to ride herd on the State Bar’s request for money – a move that follows the Legislature’s unprecedented refusal to allow the bar to collect dues from thousands of attorneys. State Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye on Wednesday appointed appellate court Justice Elwood Lui of Los Angeles to examine the Bar’s funding request.

Recent News

State urges feds to OK immigrants’ health coverage

A physician flanked by the California flag. (Illustration: Niyazz, via Shutterstock).

Hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants in California would be able to buy insurance through the state healthcare coverage marketplace if the federal government accepts a newly signed state law to exempt them from the federal rule. On June 10, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation requiring Covered California to ask the federal government for a waiver to let an estimated 390,000 undocumented immigrants buy health insurance – as long as they do it with their own money.

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