Posts Tagged: split

Reimbursements: A little-known provision of recall law

A Huntington Beach demonstrator protesting a May 2020 stay-at-home order issued by the governor during the pandemic. (Photo: mikeledray via Shutterstock)

by CHUCK McFADDEN posted 06.29.2021

California taxpayers could be on the hook for millions of dollars if the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom fails. That’s because of a little-recognized provision of the state constitution that declares: “A state officer who is not recalled must be reimbursed by the State for the officer’s recall election expenses legally and personally incurred. Another recall may not be initiated against the officer until six months after the election.” (Article II, Sec. 18.)

CA120: Land lines and cell phones and data, Oh My!

Telephone poles with their land-line wires fade into the sunset of a California highway. (Photo: Ethan Daniels.)

by PAUL MITCHELL posted 06.05.2017

For decades, polling relied on a strong pool of easily reached voters with a traditional land-line telephone. Before caller-ID became prevalent, nearly every call was answered as long as someone was home. But now more voters are untethered from traditional phones (I haven’t had a land line since 1998), and those who do still have them complain that most incoming calls are from telemarketers.

CalPERS acts to cut earnings forecast, raise rates

CalPERS' governing board during a 2013 meeting. (Photo: CalPERS board)

by ED MENDEL posted 12.21.2016

Calpensions: A key committee yesterday approved a drop in the often-criticized CalPERS investment earnings forecast, gradually raising record rates already being paid by state and local governments, if approved as expected by the full board today.

Crumbling infrastructure is costly, dangerous

California motorists in a traffic jam. (Photo: Shutterstock)

by Jim Earp, Matt Cate and Chris McKenzie posted 11.09.2015

Our transportation infrastructure is literally falling apart due to poor maintenance. Recently, because of deferred maintenance, a guard rail on an East Bay overpass fell onto I-880. The several tons of falling metal didn’t just hold up traffic, it also damaged cars and injured drivers. Our crumbling roads are more than just a nuisance. They’re dangerous.

CalPERS: Retirees begin to outnumber active workers

The CalPERS' governing board during a meeting several years ago at the pension fund's headquarters. (Photo: CalPERS board)

by ED MENDEL posted 08.24.2015

After a loss of $100 billion in the recent recession, the CalPERS funding level dropped from 100 percent in 2007 to 61 percent in 2009. It has not recovered, despite a major bull market in which the S&P 500 index of large stocks tripled. “Even with the dramatic returns we have seen over the past six years, because the demographics of plans in general have changed and plans are now by and large cash-flow negative, it’s been very challenging to dig out of that hole,” Andrew Junkin, a Wilshire consultant, told the CalPERS board last week.

Multiple bills have taken aim at Prop. 13, but the most popular among these bills pushes the so-called “split roll” property tax, which would eliminate Prop. 13 protections for job creators but leave them in place for homeowners. But a Pepperdine University study shows that the split roll could trigger the loss of nearly 400,000 jobs and cost California’s economy a total of $71.8 billion in output within the first five years.

The leaders of two local pension reforms, former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and former San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio, are working with a coalition on a statewide initiative to help local governments make cost-cutting pension reforms. During a break at the Reason Foundation’s third annual Pension Summit in Sacramento last week, the two men said they are “on the same page” and working with a coalition on the details of a proposed initiative for the November 2016 state ballot.

‘Six Californias’ initiative fails to make ballot

A map of California divided into six parts. (Illustration: SixCalifornias.com)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 09.12.2014

A Silicon Valley venture capitalist’s attempt to split California into six states failed to qualify for the statewide ballot, the secretary of state reported Friday. The measure would have carved California into the states of North California, Central California, South California, West California, Silicon Valley and Jefferson.

A plan crafted by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper to carve California into six states would do a lot more than change the lines on a map. It would have a profound effect on California’s health care system, which is now in a dramatic transition because of the Affordable Care Act.

OPINION: The six-states plan would newly create two of the poorest states in the country, “Jefferson” at our state’s northern border and “Central California” encompassing a huge swath of out Central Valley including the cities of Stockton, Fresno, and Bakersfield. In both states, one of every five people would be living below the poverty line.