(Reuters) California’s revenue in October came in $810.5 million below its projected level in the state budget, increasing pressure on its leaders to impose more spending cuts to keep the state’s books balanced, the state controller said on Thursday. “October’s poor revenues capped a very disappointing first four months of the fiscal year,” State Controller [...]
Each California taxpayer’s financial burden equals $15,100. Read report here: 2009 California Financial State of the State Share and Enjoy:
(Wall Street Journal) The California Public Employees’ Retirement System chose Wednesday to leave its assumed rate of investment return unchanged at 7.75%. That was against its own actuary’s recommendation to lower it to 7.5%. The move will please strapped local governments. A cut would have caused the system’s liabilities to rise, deepening its funding hole [...]
(CalWatchdog.com) Today the Chicago-based Institute for Truth in Accounting released the latest in its series of 50 state audits, this one dealing with little ol’ California (click here for a PDF of the new study). On reports as these, the question isn’t whether the auditors will find that the state is in shambles, but to [...]
SACRAMENTO — Voters could be persuaded to consider tax hikes as part of California’s budget fixes, but it will take a sustained bully pulpit effort by Gov.-elect Jerry Brown, analysts say. A postelection poll by the University of Southern California and Los Angeles Times showed that almost half of California voters favor a mix of [...]
(The Fresno Bee) A wave of mass student protests, a new lobbying strategy by university leaders, and the governor’s desire to leave a positive legacy in education during his final year in office led to a remarkable turnaround for California’s public colleges in the budget he signed earlier this month. In a state budget full of [...]
(nbcbayarea.com) For the 24th straight year, California legislators have failed to deliver a state budget to the governor by the constitutionally-required deadline of June 15. This year, the date came and went without so much as whimper. It’s become business as usual in the not-so-golden state. The danger in this delay will increase dramatically a few days [...]
(Bloomberg.com) California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will seek “terrible cuts” to eliminate an $18.6 billion budget deficit facing the most-populous U.S. state through June 2011, his spokesman said. Schwarzenegger, 62, who will introduce his revised budget plans on May 14, has said he won’t seek tax increases to bolster California’s finances. The Republican’s forecast for the budget [...]
(Los Angeles Times) State tax collections plummeted unexpectedly in April, wiping out months of steady gains that legislators hoped would ease their budget troubles and restore California’s economy faster than experts predicted. Such hope is now fading fast. Revenue for April, the biggest revenue month because it is when most Californians pay their taxes, lagged [...]
(MercuryNews.com) Orange County Register: “State’s $500 billion pension time bomb” An alarming new study by Stanford University’s public policy program reveals that the state’s three public employee retirement systems could face combined pension obligations that exceed funding by $500 billion over the next 16 years. California taxpayers are responsible to make good on those retirement [...]
