Bill in Response to Wells Fargo Scandal Clears Key Vote
(From Press Release) – A bill by Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa) to protect victims of mass fraud…
$330 Million Dollar Deal to Bring Broadband and Digital Literacy to Rural Communities
(From Press Release) AB 1665, Joint-Authored by several bipartisan Assemblymembers, including Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D – Winters), Eduardo…
Vanguard Interview with Senator Bill Dodd
Vanguard Board Member Leanna Sweha met with newly-elected Senator Bill Dodd in his Capitol Office on Thursday,…
Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry Talks Land Use, Economic Development
Newly elected Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry sat down with Leanna Sweha of the Davis Vanguard for an interview…
Assemblymember Dodd Lays Out Legislative Priorities
By Vanguard Editorial Board On Thursday March 17, the Editorial Board for the Davis Vanguard met with…
$15 Minimum Wage Gets a Boost as Los Angeles Approves It
When a small group of activists in 2014 proposed a $15 per hour minimum wage, it seemed…
CalPERS Contributions to Put More Squeeze on Local Funding For Roads
CalPERS contribution rates will rise more than nine percent, a move that experts project will cost state…
League of California Cities Alarmed At Precarious Pavement Conditions
In a release on Monday, the League of California Cities stated that it has “engaged in numerous…
Landmark Decision Out of Stockton Could Change Playing Field on Pensions
It will likely take some time to figure out the ramifications for cities like Davis, who are…
Will This Year Mark the Return of Tax Increment Financing?
It has been three years since the effective death of redevelopment when the state eliminated its redevelopment…
California Budget Deal Signed Just Before Deadline
A budget deal was reached on Sunday night, about six hours before the deadline that in the…
Governor’s Proposal Would Hurt Rural Communities
by Assemblymember Mariko Yamada Rural Californians face challenges that differ from residents in urbanized areas. Along with…
Public Employee Pensions Are Not the Problem
by Buddy Magor The economy is picking up steam. State, city and county employees have willingly accepted…
Governor Introduces 2014-15 Budget: Schools Get New Funding, RDA Does Not
On Thursday, the governor rushed out his proposed 2014-15 budget as the proposal had been prematurely leaked. …
Bipartisan Mayors Propose Pension Reform Initiative
A group of bipartisan California mayors – including San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed (D), San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris (D), Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido (D), Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait (R) and Pacific Grove Mayor Bill Kampe (D) – have filed a statewide ballot initiative to provide state and local governments with the tools needed to fix California’s unsustainable public employee retirement plans.
“The Pension Reform Act of 2014 would amend the California Constitution to give government agencies clear authority to negotiate changes to existing employees’ pension or retiree healthcare benefits on a strictly going-forward basis,” a release stated on Tuesday. “The measure explicitly protects retirement benefits government employees have already earned, while allowing benefits to be modified for future years of service.”
Commentary: Did Prop 13 Lead to the Pension Crisis?
It is a thought provoking if not outright provocative article that veteran columnist Peter Schrag put out last Friday, noting the liberal tendency to “blame everything that went wrong in California, from power failures to kidnapping, on Proposition 13,” but nonetheless suggestions that while “the tax-cutting initiative was not the cause of all that ailed the state … as state and local officials remain in deep denial on California’s mounting multibillion-dollar unfunded public employee pension and retiree health care obligations, it’s time to return to the subject.”
The question at hand, “Did Proposition 13 help create the conditions that have contributed mightily to those unfunded liabilities?”
Yamada Bill on Adult Day Health Care Muddled After “Awkward Conversation” in a Senate Committee
In February, Assemblymembers Mariko Yamada and Bob Blumenfield (D-San Fernando Valley), Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, announced their sponsorship of legislation that would make the Community Based Adult Services (CBAS) program permanent.
However, the legislation has proven to be troublesome. A similar bill was vetoed back in 2011.
Legislative Analyst Agrees Budget Proposal Is in Balance
Last week the governor’s office announced a budget that he argued would roughly be in balance. “This budget provides long-term fiscal stability on a level that California has not enjoyed in more than a decade,” the governor claimed.
For those caught off-guard by this news, perhaps they shouldn’t have been, as it was in line with the analysis from the LAO (Legislative Analyst’s Office) back in November 2012.
Governor Claims Budget Deficit is Gone, Introduces Balanced State Budget
Governor Jerry Brown announced on Thursday that he is putting forth a balance budget “that boosts investment in education, implements health care reform and keeps California on a long-term path to fiscal stability. This budget builds on the work of the last two years to eliminate the ongoing deficit.”
“The budget cuts made in the last two years and the passage of Proposition 30 make it possible to both live within our means and to increase funding for education,” said Governor Brown.
Senator Wolk’s Legislation is One of Several Redevelopment Replacement Possibilities
Last year, California ended Redevelopment as a way for local government to use public monies that would go for redevelopment and other major infrastructure repair projects.
Last week marked the beginning of the new legislative session and Senator Lois Wolk introduced SB 33, a measure which would “update Infrastructure Financing District law, to make it a useful tool to help cities maintain, repair, and rebuild critical infrastructure and create economic development in their communities.”