California, whose state budget is highly dependent on volatile income taxes, is the least able big state to withstand a recession, according to a “stress test” conducted by Moody’s Investor Service.
In a letter to Senate Republican Leader Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield, the state’s legislative counsel said Brown does not have the authority, without legislative approval, to extend beyond 2020 the provisions of Assembly Bill 32, California’s landmark greenhouse gas reduction law.
The state’s contribution will increase by an estimated $602 million, to $5.4 billion a year. School districts will be charged an additional $342 million, to a total of nearly $1.7 billion a year. While teachers are covered by CalSTRS, other school employees get their pensions from CalPERS.
Starting May 1, Felix and roughly 170,000 other undocumented children in California will have more options during such crises. They’ll gain access to not just emergency coverage but dental care, check-ups, mental health treatment and other vital services following an unprecedented Medi-Cal expansion that provides full coverage to all low-income children in the state, regardless of immigration status. . . The Medi-Cal expansion for undocumented children is exclusively state funded and is expected to cost the Department of Healthcare Services about $132 million annually.
By 2015, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau says in a new report, employers’ average insurance premiums, which had topped $6 per $100 of payroll in 2003, had dropped to $2.86.
However, the state Board of Education seems determined to have a soft “multiple measures” system of accountability that downplays test results, with few consequences for failure. So we may never really know whether LCFF actually meets its purported goal.
While precipitation has been roughly four times heavier than a year ago, the Delta pumps have produced just a 35 percent increase in water shipments. For every gallon that’s been pumped to south-of-Delta water agencies since Jan. 1, 3 1/2 gallons have been allowed to flow out to sea. Pumping activity has decreased considerably the past three weeks, to the rising irritation of south state contractors.
Forty-five percent of the state’s income tax money comes from the top 1 percent of filers – those with adjusted gross income of at least $501,000. Those taxpayers recorded an average adjusted gross income of $1.6 million in 2013, almost double what it was in 1994.
In fact, a new poll found that 54 percent of Golden State voters think they pay too much income tax. The latest Field Poll also shows that 40 percent of Californians actually believe they’re taxed just enough. Only 2 percent said taxes are too low.
The controversial court ruling that declared California’s teacher tenure and dismissal laws unconstitutional was overturned Thursday by a state appeals court.
California finishes last in a new review of how states report spending on contracts and other items, with the report’s authors blaming “bureaucratic fragmentation” for the lack of a one-stop web site that would make it easier for average California residents to examine the payments.
The latest tentative labor agreement with California’s correctional officers proves that there’s more than one way to boost employee compensation without calling it a “raise.” . . An analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office figures that, if approved, the contract would incrementally add annual costs that top out at $588 million in fiscal 2018-19.
Continuing his recent embrace of liberal-backed policies to put more money in workers’ pockets, Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday signed legislation boosting the compensation of Californians taking paid family leave. . . Raising the rate would allocate an additional $348 million in 2018 and $587 million by 2021 out of the state’s Disability Insurance Fund.
Just days before California State University professors were expected to walk out on the job, Chancellor Timothy White and the California Faculty Association jointly announced Friday a tentative contract agreement far more expansive than the 5 percent raise teaching staff sought for nearly a year. . . In order to minimize salary compression that has seen some faculty paid lower than more recently hired colleagues, additional 2.65 percent bumps will be available to thousands of instructors in 2017-18 based on their years of service. . . In an interview with The Bee, White said the agreement would help students by pouring more resources into the classroom while also giving the university more time to figure out how to pay for it.
“Gov. Jerry Brown will sign legislation Monday increasing California’s paid family leave benefits for people who take time off to bond with a new child or care for a sick relative, his office said Friday. . . The state’s Economic Development Department estimates increased payments of $348 million in that first year, rising to $587 million by 2021.