The CalPERS' governing board during a meeting several years ago at the pension fund's headquarters. (Photo: CalPERS board)Calpensions: Twice in recent decades CalPERS fell below 100 percent of the funding needed for promised pensions, and twice CalPERS climbed back. But since a $100 billion investment loss in 2008, the CalPERS funding level has not recovered.
GOP Chair Jim Brulte at the recent state Republican convention in Burlingame. (Photo: Dorothy Mills-GreggJim Brulte, head of the state GOP for the past three years, will be permitted to run for the party’s top job for two additional terms, following the party’s decision to extend his term limits.
Voters casting ballots in Ventura County during an earlier election. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, Shutterstock)As we enter the June primary, we have an electorate that has been seen in polling to be more energized and with a desire to vote more commonly in general elections. The last time we had anything close to this kind of engagement was during the 2008 presidential primary. Since then, we have seen a 35% growth in No Party Preference registrations and an 88% spike in the number of Permanent Absentee Voters. In total, the population of non-partisan voters who get their ballots by mail has nearly tripled.
A California voter casts a ballot. (Photo: Vepar5)OPINION: In a fairly rare occurrence, this year’s primary election in California could actually matter in terms of who becomes the Republican Party’s nominee. California had a chance of being relevant with March primaries in 1996, 2000 and 2004; however, Bob Dole and George W. Bush already had largely sealed their deals.
A California voter casts a ballot. (Photo: Vepar5)One thing about California’s lineup of looming ballot propositions: You can’t say they aren’t interesting. From school bonds to the environment to condoms to drugs to plastic bags, and more, voters already are set to vote on seven propositions on the November ballot. And many more are in the wings.
An inmate gestures through the bars of his prison cell. (Photo: Sakhorn, Shutterstock)Gov. Jerry Brown and a number of church and law enforcement leaders said Wednesday they are launching a November ballot initiative that would ease parole restrictions on nonviolent prison inmates and provide incentives for prisoners to work toward an earlier release.
Gov. Jerry Brown at a Capitol briefing last year on his revised state budget. Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/APOPINION: Californians can breathe a sigh of relief. When proponents of a 2016 ballot proposal to extend Proposition 30’s tax rates on wealthy Californians amended their measure this week, they did something that was both politically smart and fiscally sound: They eliminated a provision the governor a few days ago called the measure’s “fatal flaw”, that would have exempted this proposed new revenue from the state’s Rainy Day Fund.
John Chiang, then state controller and now California treasurer, at a 2013 gathering. (Photo: Ryan Miller/Invision/AP )State Treasurer John Chiang said Monday he is “very interested” in running for governor in 2018 and will decide early next year whether to launch a campaign. Chiang, who served two terms as state controller before being elected treasurer in 2o14, is the latest in a number of prominent Democrats who have announced their intention to run for governor or are at least considering the job.
The California state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: Shutterstock)OPINION: With more than a dozen major tax measures moving through the Legislature or toward the November 2016 ballot, California’s perennial debate about taxes is set to begin anew — with millions of dollars in political campaigns preparing to shape how the state will raise billions of dollars in revenue, and provide public services, for years to come.
A tiny Asian citrus psyllid enjoying some eats. (Photo: UC Riverside)It’s a barely visible, tiny insect but it could be a huge headache for California’s $2 billion citrus industry. The Asian citrus psyllid, only few millimeters long, has turned up in the San Gabriel Valley and authorities are plotting a strategy to contain it.