Not the First or Last Time That California’s Treasurer Is Right

(Editor’s Note: This post is in “Angry Man” because California’s Capitol tries —  relatively scrupulously — not to express opinions in its “News” section. On November 15, Treasurer Bill Lockyer instructed his designee on the State Public Works Board to vote against early retirement of the debt on 11 state-owned buildings that are slated to be sold to a private entity and then leased back to the state.    Read more »

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Beating a Dead Horse: Isn’t News Her Not Backing the Ban?

Author of Bag Ban Bill Hails Los Angeles County’s Approval of Bag Ban

LOS ANGELES—Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, hailed today’s vote by Los Angeles County to ban single-use bags as a significant victory toward a statewide prohibition on one of the biggest sources of pollution in California.

“This is just the beginning of a wave of bans against single-use plastic bags across California,” Assemblymember Brownley said.    Read more »

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Kupros Increases the Kreativity Offered By Midtown Eateries

Kudos to Kupros Bistro for kreativity.

Fried pickles? House-cured no less. Kompared to the koncept of fried pickles, a tartar sauce accompaniment seems almost mundane.

Apparently, this is one of those gastropubs folks are yakking about that aim to ratchet up bar food a notch or nine. Whatever Kupros is – it’s Greek for copper – a tip-of-the-hat to executive chef, Sacramento native John Gurnee, formerly of Mason’s.    Read more »

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Governor Calls 8th Special Session on Budget in Seven Years

SACRAMENTO  — Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced that he will call the legislature into Special Session to address a new projected budget deficit. The Special Session will convene on Monday, December 6th, the first day the new legislature is sworn in.

“While California’s economy appears to be showing signs of stabilizing, our job creation and revenues are still lagging.    Read more »

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It’s Getting a Bit More Crowded in the Golden State Lifeboat

Often overlooked in what’s come to be the doom-and-gloom budget forecast of the Legislative Analyst’s Fiscal Outlook is the demographics data, which is on Page 22 of the PDF version of the report.

Demographics in the nation’s most populous state has a major impact on fiscal issues.

More Californians mean more people using state services, more people paying vehicle license fees, more people paying sales taxes or income taxes.    Read more »

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As if the Legislative Analyst’s Report Wasn’t Grim Enough…

SACRAMENTO – State Controller John Chiang today released his monthly report covering California’s cash balance, receipts and disbursements in October.

Receipts for the month were $232.3 million, 4.6 percent above the recently enacted state budget estimates.

“The record 100-day budget stalemate pushed us past the point of having enough cash on hand to pay more than $8 billion in outstanding bills that came due when the budget was signed,” said  Chiang.    Read more »

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How Ugly Will Next Year’s Budget Be? Find Out November 10

Recently, Assembly Speaker John Perez predicted the state might face a budget shortfall of between $12 billion and $15 billion during the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2011.

Hopefully, the Los Angeles Democrat is right — although evidence suggests otherwise.

Californians will know whether Perez is or not on Wednesday, November 10, when the Legislative Analyst publishes its 2010 fiscal outlook, which examines the state’s economy and projects the condition of California’s budget for the next five years.    Read more »

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What Have We Learned Over the Past 2065 Years?

“The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.”

Cicero, 55 BC    Read more »

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A Look at How Recent State Budgets Treat the Public Schools

Last June 22, California’s Capitol presented a comparison created by Michael Hulsizer, head of legislative affairs for the office of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, of the state’s general fund revenue growth and public school spending from July 1, 1998 through the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2011.    Read more »

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Speculation -Mainly Idle – On Members of Jerry Brown’s Team

With the election concluded, now begins one of the Sacramento insiders’ favorite parlor games, guessing who might be appointed to key posts in the new Jerry Brown administration.

Given the new governor’s mercurial nature, its hazardous to predict what he’ll do from one minute to the next, let alone appoint as chief of staff or cabinet secretaries.    Read more »

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