Molly Munger, a wealthy civil rights attorney, talks with reporters in Sacramento about the tax measure she’s backing.(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Wyatt Buchanan
Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Sacramento –Supporters of two ballot initiatives that would raise taxes to fund public education and other services said on Monday they will not back down from those efforts, upending Gov. Jerry Brown’s crusade to clear the November ballot of any competing tax measures.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Gov. Jerry Brown’s campaign to balance the state budget with new income and sales taxes took a double hit Monday.

Brown has been describing his temporary sales and income tax increases as necessary to protect schools and public safety. But a new report on school finance from the Legislature’s budget analyst, Mac Taylor, makes it clear that even were Brown’s taxes to be increased, his budget would continue to reduce California’s per-pupil spending. Virtually all of the school money in the package would just pay schools what the state already owes them.

Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/05/2012 05:15:27 PM PST

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors is poised to adopt a new policy precluding supervisors from using discretionary funds from their respective districts to cover staffing costs.

The board will vote on the recommendation at its Tuesday meeting.

Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/05/2012 07:38:16 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – The City Council today will vote on recommendations to lay off 77 employees of its now defunct economic/redevelopment agencies – 33 civil service employees and 44 contract employees, City Attorney James F. Penman said Friday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Carter

By Jim Sanders and Phillip Reese
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 – 7:10 am

With California billions behind on its budget and public services shrinking, the Assembly collectively tightened its belt last year – but not all of its members did.

Records released under court order show that Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez boosted the budgets of six members by tens of thousands of dollars apiece despite the fiscal emergency.

Read the rest of this entry »

Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 02/03/2012 01:29:27 PM PST

CHINO – As tears were shed and pleas were made, Chino Valley Unified School District board members approved $19.6 million in budget reductions.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Gov. Jerry Brown and his fellow Democrats in the Legislature settled on a hastily revised state budget last June – after Brown had vetoed legislators’ first version – and pronounced it to be balanced and timely.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
February 3, 2012 | 11:28 am

Gov. Jerry Brown has courted a coalition of business and labor groups to back his November initiative that would raise taxes on sales and upper incomes. Now, some on the left are lashing out at the governor’s plan, and his early donors, reaffirming their intent to place a competing tax measure on the ballot this fall.

Read the rest of this entry »

February 3rd, 2012, 5:00 am
Posted by Tony Saavedra, Register investigative reporter

The Orange County Employee’s Retirement System ended 2011 with an investment return of 0.74 percent — that’s 7 percent less than projected.

But OCERS officials, though concerned, say it is too early to panic. For one thing, says CEO Steve Delaney, the 20-year average is 7.9 percent on investments, right where the system needs to be.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Many years of partisan wrangling over the state budget reached a climax in 2010 when public employee unions and Democratic politicians persuaded voters to pass Proposition 25, eliminating the two-thirds vote for budgets.

It gave the Legislature’s majority Democrats the power to pass budgets without having to garner Republican votes. But that’s not all it did.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 6B

By lowering its investment forecast by another quarter point, CalSTRS made a bow toward economic reality – but also may have complicated efforts to shore up its finances.

The teachers’ retirement board agreed Thursday to reduce CalSTRS’ official investment forecast to 7.5 percent, down from 7.75 percent. It was the second cut in 14 months, after the $144 billion fund left the forecast untouched for 15 years.

In a volatile investment climate, following a year in which CalSTRS’ portfolio earned just 2.3 percent, board members took their consultants’ advice and went with the lower number.

“I think it’s best that we be conservative,” said Terry McGuire, representing board member and state Controller John Chiang.

The board of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System voted 9-1 to reduce the forecast. The lone dissent came from Pedro Reyes of the Department of Finance. The higher forecast “is not unreasonable,” he argued. “Let’s stay where we are right now, (and) visit this in another year.”

By cutting investment projections, the board instantly ballooned CalSTRS’ funding gap – the estimated shortfall of assets available to meet the pension fund’s long-term needs. The gap will grow by nearly $6 billion, or roughly 10 percent.

That could create problems in the Legislature, which must OK changes in how CalSTRS is funded.

CalSTRS gets around $5.6 billion a year from the state, school districts and teachers. The pension fund had already calculated that it needed another $4 billion a year to eventually get healthy. With the lower investment forecast, those needs grow by another $500 million a year.

While CalSTRS is pushing for more money, many Republicans want to erase funding shortfalls for public pensions by reducing benefits. Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown wants to give newly hired employees a combination traditional pension and a 401(k)-style program.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/03/4235828/calstrs-gap-rises-as-return-forecast.html#mi_rss=Business#storylink=cpy

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
February 2, 2012

A “millionaires tax” initiative spearheaded by the California Federation of Teachers and the Courage Campaign received petition language today, as well as backing from the powerful California Nurses Association.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Gov. Jerry Brown laid out a detailed plan to alter California’s state and local public retirement systems on Thursday – and immediately drew fire from his core labor constituency.

Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/01/2012 02:01:30 PM PST

The labor union representing roughly 11,000 San Bernardino County employees announced Wednesday it will support another union’s effort to reduce county supervisors’ jobs to part-time.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Phillip Reese
preese@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012 – 6:42 am

State government payroll increased by half a billion dollars last year, even as California cut thousands of state worker jobs, according to a Bee analysis of new data from the Controller’s Office.

The payroll increase added about $140 million in wages to the Sacramento economy in 2011, contributing to a budding recovery.

Read the rest of this entry »

Supervisors’ second-largest union argues it was asked to give up too much before terms were imposed; terms reached with biggest union

BY DUANE W. GANG AND DUG BEGLEY
STAFF WRITERS
dgang@pe.com | dbegley@pe.com

Published: 31 January 2012 09:15 AM

More than 1,000 Riverside County workers took to the streets Tuesday protesting benefit reductions and warning that additional strikes could be on the way if county officials don’t reopen contract negotiations.

The 24-hour work stoppage was expected to last until 6:59 a.m. today and marks the latest escalation between county management and the Service Employees International Union Local 721, the county’s second-largest employee group.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 31, 2012 | 11:59 am

California is running out of cash, the state controller warned in a letter to lawmakers Tuesday.

Controller John Chiang said lawmakers need to scrape together $3.3 billion by March — assuming the state’s financial situation doesn’t get any worse.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Gov. Jerry Brown is scaling back the state’s highly controversial bullet train project to keep it alive.

Just three months ago, his administration unveiled – with great fanfare – a revised “business plan” for building the north-south bullet train system to answer the embryonic project’s many critics.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 31, 2012

Rural and urban school districts in California that make heavy use of buses appear safe — for now.

State lawmakers are fast-tracking legislation that would transform a $248 million midyear school bus cut into a general-purpose reduction that hits each K-12 district evenly. The Assembly Budget Committee passed Senate Bill 81 with bipartisan support Tuesday, while an aide to Gov. Jerry Brown testified that the governor supports the proposal.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 6B

CalSTRS is thinking of cutting its investment forecast for the second time in barely a year, a move that acknowledges the increased financial strain on the pension fund.

The teachers’ retirement board on Thursday will consider a recommendation from its actuarial consultant to cut the forecast by a quarter point, to 7.5 percent.

Read the rest of this entry »

Riverside County officials have gone to court in an effort to stop a one-day strike by health care professionals.

BY RICHARD K. De ATLEY
STAFF WRITER
rdeatley@pe.com

Published: 30 January 2012 11:33 AM

A judge Monday barred 248 health-care workers from joining a one-day strike by members of Riverside County’s second-largest union.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Would it be churlish to say that the much-ballyhooed Think Long Committee for California fell short on fortitude?

Or merely accurate?

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 30, 2012 | 3:31 pm

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye lost a round over Judicial Council power

The state’s top judge lost a political battle Monday when the state Assembly voted to shift key budget decisions from the state Judicial Council that she heads to local trial courts, some of which have complained about the panel’s handling of money.

Read the rest of this entry »

Understaffed, overwhelmed, Riverside and San Bernardino county officials say the verdict is few options on further cuts

RICHARD K. De ATLEY/Staff

RICHARD K. De ATLEY
STAFF WRITER
rdeatley@pe.com

Published: 29 January 2012 07:33 PM

Like passengers on a plane with half the engines snuffed, Inland court officials can only wait and watch as Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget for next year fiscal year moves through the state’s political turbulence.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wendy Leung, Staff Writer
Created: 01/28/2012 06:11:04 AM PST

Hoping to restore jail funding to San Bernardino County, an Inland Empire assemblyman introduced a bill on Friday that could potentially bring $16 million to county coffers.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Howard Mintz hmintz@mercurynews.com
Posted: 01/30/2012 06:56:26 AM PST
Updated: 01/30/2012 07:31:17 AM PST

With a crucial vote looming Monday, a conflict that has shaken California’s judiciary reaches a critical stage when the Assembly considers legislation that would strip control of most of the court system’s purse strings from a central bureaucracy and turn it over to the Legislature and local trial judges.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 29, 2012

The California Teachers Association officially agreed Sunday to back Gov. Jerry Brown’s multibillion-dollar tax plan, which should provide the governor hefty financial support for his fall campaign.

Read the rest of this entry »

Monday, January 30, 2012
By Ed Mendel

The nation’s two largest public pension funds last week reported slim annual investment earnings, CalPERS 1.1 percent and CalSTRS 2.3 percent, as experts continue to say hitting their long-term earnings target, 7.75 percent, will be difficult.

While CalPERS reported weak earnings in 2011, a prominent private-sector investment manager, Robert Arnott of Research Affiliates, told the board last week he thinks the most they can expect from stocks and bonds next decade is 4 percent.

Read the rest of this entry »

Executive Editor Frank Pine
Posted: 01/28/2012 05:38:39 PM PST

San Bernardino County’s Board of Supervisors asked county lawyers last week to draft language for a ballot measure that would give voters the final say on increases to pension benefits for public employees.

Supervisors Janice Rutherford, Gary Ovitt and Josie Gonzales voted yea with supervisors Brad Mitzelfelt and Neil Derry voting nay.

Read the rest of this entry »

Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 01/27/2012 09:31:09 AM PST

CHINO – The Chino Valley Unified School District has about two weeks to find $20 million to cut from its budget for next year.

That’s the bad news coming from last week’s Board of Education budget study session.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 01/28/2012 06:06:01 AM PST

UPLAND – The City Council has not made a formal request for the League of California Cities’ assistance in the medical marijuana case pending in the state Supreme Court, but some inquiries have been made.

Read the rest of this entry »

BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com

Published: 27 January 2012 08:34 PM

Riverside County will go to court Monday seeking to keep nearly 300 nurses and other health professionals from taking part in a day-long strike planned by the county’s second-largest union.

County officials this week appealed to a state labor relations board for help after the Service Employees International Union Local 721 informed officials at Riverside County Regional Medical Center that nurses planned to participate in the strike Tuesday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Gov. Jerry Brown pledges to cut spiraling costs, but key parts of his rollback plan apply mainly to future workers. Activists want quicker action.

By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times
January 28, 2012

Reporting from Sacramento— Gilbert Robles retired as a state parole agent at age 53, able to collect a $101,195 annual pension — 94% of his final salary. Last year, six months after he retired, the Arcadia resident accepted a political appointment with the same agency that pays an additional six figures.

Scott Hallabrin took retirement as the top attorney for the state’s ethics agency on June 29, 2009. The next day, he went back to the same post, as he prepared to watch his pension checks roll in on top of a salary.

Read the rest of this entry »

San Bernardino County supervisors have too much to do, the chairwoman says after a union backs the idea

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 26 January 2012 09:27 PM

A proposal to reduce San Bernardino County supervisors’ positions to part-time status would leave little time for them to meet and respond to constituents’ needs, board Chairwoman Josie Gonzales said Thursday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cities hoping for extra life for redevelopment agencies are told to focus on a future without them as a Feb. 1 deadline nears

BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.co

Published: 26 January 2012 09:04 PM

SACRAMENTO — Legislation to extend the life of redevelopment agencies beyond Feb. 1 seemed all but dead Thursday despite a last-ditch push by local officials and other groups.

The California Supreme Court last month upheld a state law ending redevelopment, which for decades has helped local governments pay to revitalize downtowns and build new streets and also been criticized as a taxpayer subsidy for politically connected developers. Inland Southern California has some of the most active agencies in the state.

Read the rest of this entry »

Patrick Fite, For the Daily Facts
Posted: 01/26/2012 04:25:15 PM PST

Practicing simple energy efficient methods can add up to huge savings, as the Redlands Unified School District (RUSD) has shown during the past 26 months by saving more than $900,000 in energy costs.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 26, 2012 | 8:12 pm

Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday urged 1,500 Los Angeles political and business leaders to back his proposal for higher taxes and implored them to pressure lawmakers in Sacramento to overhaul the state’s pension system this year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye

January 26, 2012

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye today urged the defeat of Assembly legislation that would undermine the authority of the Judicial Council, and give courts in as few as two counties authority to veto any statewide judicial project.

Cantil-Sakauye, who became chief justice in 2010, is showing herself to be a tough fighter as she lobbies to kill legislation by Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Whittier, himself the consummate inside player.

Read the rest of this entry »

Safety union announces push for part-time supervisors
January 25, 2012 10:31 AM
Natasha Lindstrom, Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO • On a split vote Tuesday morning, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors directed staff to draft a ballot measure that would require voter approval for any future pension increases for county employees.

A few hours later, the county Safety Employees’ Benefit Association announced it was funding an effort to reduce the Board of Supervisors to part-time status.

Read the rest of this entry »

California Gov. Jerry Brown presents his proposed state budget, which needs tax hikes to balance. (Lezlie Sterling / MCT / January 5, 2012)

By Marc Lifsher
January 25, 2012, 10:43 a.m.

California’s combination of business, sales, income and other taxes ranks it close to the bottom of the 50 states for being business-friendly, according to an index put out by a conservative Washington think tank.

California placed 48th, ahead of only New York at 49th place and New Jersey at 50th, said a report released Wednesday by the Tax Foundation.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 25, 2012

Less than a week after Gov. Jerry Brown claimed widespread business support for his ballot initiative to raise taxes – including donations from big healthcare and oil companies – the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and California chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business urged business groups this afternoon to resist any effort by Brown to “cajole” them.

Read the rest of this entry »

San Bernardino County supervisors Brad Mitzelfelt, First District; Janice Rutherford, Second District; Neil Derry, Third District; Gary Ovitt, Fourth District; and Josie Gonzales, Fifth District (File photos)

Joe Nelson, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 01/23/2012 03:05:32 PM PST

The president of San Bernardino County’s most powerful labor union announced Tuesday it is bankrolling an initiative to reduce county supervisors’ jobs to part-time status.

Read the rest of this entry »

Supervisor Josie Gonzales

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 24 January 2012 07:08 PM

San Bernardino County supervisors moved forward Tuesday with a proposal to require voter approval of future pension increases but face opposition from employee unions who quickly announced plans for a competing measure aimed at supervisors.

The board agreed to have county staff draft a ballot measure requiring voter approval before retirement benefits for county employees, legislative officers and elected officials could be increased. But final approval is not assured with supervisors split 3-2 on whether to consider the proposal.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Steinberg Staff Writer
Posted: 01/24/2012 08:43:11 PM PST

The Fontana and Rialto city councils scrambled on Tuesday night to approve measures paving the way for a Feb. 1 deadline for the dissolution of their redevelopment agencies.

Meanwhile, because of the complexity of what needs to be accomplished in a short time frame, two bond-rating agencies have taken negative actions toward billions of dollars in California bonds secured by redevelopment tax increment revenue.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 24, 2012

California voters like Gov. Jerry Brown’s idea of making high earners pay more taxes, but otherwise are of mixed minds about solving the state’s chronic budget woes, according to the Public Policy Institute of California’s latest poll on the topic.

Here are a few findings from the poll, released today:

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

As the Legislature reconvened this month, California’s judges resumed their civil war over money and power.

It pits Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye and the State Judicial Council, along with one faction of trial and appellate judges, against a rebellious faction, organized as the Alliance of California Judges, over how to allocate pain as the courts adjust to reduced financing.

Read the rest of this entry »

BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com

Published: 23 January 2012 10:39 PM

Riverside County’s second-largest union is planning a one-day general strike next week to protest the pension and benefit changes imposed on employees last year.

Read the rest of this entry »

County supes to approve $2.63 million for SVL fire station
January 23, 2012 4:57 PM
Natasha Lindstrom, Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO • Two weeks after slashing their own benefits, San Bernardino County’s supervisors Tuesday will consider extending the compensation cuts to all county elected offices.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Joe Nelson, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 01/23/2012 03:05:32 PM PST

Two San Bernardino County supervisors are requesting that benefits for all county elected officials, not just the Board of Supervisors, be reduced to be in line with elected officials in other counties.

Supervisors Neil Derry and Janice Rutherford are pushing for the ordinance, which comes less than two weeks after the board approved a similar ordinance that reduced total compensation for future supervisors by roughly $48,000 annually.

Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/23/2012 03:37:18 PM PST

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors is poised to direct county administrators to draft a ballot measure that would require voter approval for any proposed increases to county employee retirement benefits.

Read the rest of this entry »

It falls short of the 7.75% average that actuaries say CalPERS needs to meet obligations. Calendar-year results are just indicators — the public pension fund’s fiscal year ends in June.

By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
January 24, 2012

Reporting from Sacramento— The nation’s largest public pension fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, posted a 1.1% return on its investment portfolio in 2011, Chief Investment Officer Joseph Dear told his board.

The 2011 performance was well below the estimated average annual return of 7.75% that the fund’s actuaries say is needed to meet current and future obligations to its members.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

The state budget contains hundreds of specific provisions but none is bigger, more complicated, more politicized, more emotional – or more important – than the 30 or so billion dollars that it spends on K-12 education.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

Published: Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Whenever someone suggests that California’s public employee pension systems need reform, civil service unions react dismissively, often with attacks on the credentials or even the morals of critics.

Read the rest of this entry »

George Skelton

By George Skelton, Capitol Journal
January 23, 2012

It’s the norm in January: After the governor proposes a new budget and delivers his State of the State address, legislators slide into hibernation until spring.

Oh, there’s some rustling around in the dens — a few committee hearings, brief floor sessions — but no strenuous activity, no risk taking until May, when deadlines sprout and the governor revises his budget proposal.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
Monday, January 23, 2012

A new advisory panel, following a move by CalPERS last year, recommends that public pensions take a small step that touches on a big issue: What happens if pension fund earnings fall below the forecast?

Read the rest of this entry »

Sunday, January 22, 2012 – 09:30 p.m.

Upland’s finance are heading in the wrong direction fast.

One major factor?

Legal fees!

Read the rest of this entry »

San Bernardino County Auditor/Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector Larry Walker

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 21 January 2012 05:49 PM

After slashing their own benefits earlier this month, San Bernardino County supervisors on Tuesday will start taking aim at extra compensation for other county-wide elected officials.

The board will vote on a proposal by Supervisors Janice Rutherford and Neil Derry to direct the county administrative and counsel offices to prepare an ordinance that would cut benefit packages for the assessor-recorder, auditor/controller/treasurer-tax collector, district attorney and sheriff. If a majority of supervisors agree, the ordinance will return to the board at a future meeting for a vote.

Read the rest of this entry »

Regional transportation planners focus funding, planning on local connections, not bullet train to Nevada

BY DUG BEGLEY
STAFF WRITER
dbegley@pe.com

Published: 21 January 2012 05:24 PM

Transportation planners once dreamed that super-fast trains would whisk Southern Californians at more than 300 mph across the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas.

But the idea of a magnetic levitation train didn’t stick around for long in regional transportation plans developed by the Southern California Association of Governments. Local planners instead are concentrating on connections within Southern California, so that when — and if — bullet trains ever come, conventional trains have a steady and direct route to get to them.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 01/21/2012 05:12:56 PM PST

UPLAND – The city may expect another budget deficit in the next fiscal year, with expenditures continuing to grow more quickly than revenues, according to estimates by City Manager Stephen Dunn.

Dunn outlined several of the city’s challenges in 2012 during a special City Council meeting Saturday at the Carnegie Library.

Read the rest of this entry »

By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 – 9:59 am

“My father built the water plan. I want to complete it. So, whether it’s high-speed rail or water or education or public safety, I’m going to invest and build for the future, not steal from it.” GOV. JERRY BROWN, son of former Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown

Before leaving Southern California last week, after urging greater infrastructure spending in a “land of dreams,” Gov. Jerry Brown recalled how long he has made that case and how wary of his ideas people can be.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Sunday, January 22, 2012

Sacramento –Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to finally fix California’s finances relies on several dubious assumptions, including that voters approve his proposal to raise taxes in November and that the revenue from those come in at the level the administration projects.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Jerry Brown evidently does not want to join the nascent movement to overhaul – perhaps radically – California’s dysfunctional political structure.

Read the rest of this entry »

By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 – 12:13 am

SAN DIEGO – Gov. Jerry Brown, campaigning for higher taxes and infrastructure spending in the state’s more conservative reaches Thursday, claimed widespread business support for his tax plan and suggested dire consequences should it fail.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 19, 2012 | 3:28 pm

Now that Gov. Jerry Brown has unveiled his budget proposal, it’s time for lawmakers to pull out their red pens.

The Senate Budget Committee held its first hearing Thursday, and its Assembly counterpart will do the same Tuesday. Until the governor releases an updated proposal in May, lawmakers will be poking and prodding his budget plan – and spinning it for political purposes.

Read the rest of this entry »

January 18, 2012 11:58 AM
Brooke Edwards Staggs

VICTORVILLE • Less than 12 hours after his contract was approved by the City Council, Victorville received notice that the man chosen to serve as deputy city manager overseeing finances had opted not to take the position.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Michael J. Mishak and Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
January 19, 2012

Reporting from Sacramento — After years of economic pain and deep budget cuts, Gov. Jerry Brown declared California to be “on the mend,” saying the state is emerging from financial turmoil and proclaiming his dedication to a string of ambitious public projects.

Read the rest of this entry »

California Gov. Jerry Brown talks about his budget during a press conference in Sacramento. (Lezlie Sterling//MCT / January 5, 2012)

NEWS ANALYSIS

By Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
January 18, 2012

Reporting from Sacramento— In his State of the State address in Sacramento on Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to attempt a risky balancing act: reconciling his well-crafted image as a penny pincher with one he aspires to as a builder in the mold of his father, former Gov. Pat Brown.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 17, 2012

Republican legislative leaders rolled out their response to Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2012 State of the State address Tuesday, slamming the Democratic governor for telling Californians that the”sky will fall” without higher taxes.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 16, 2012

Gov. Jerry Brown is taking a mulligan, tripped up by a typographical error and forced to re-file his ballot initiative to raise taxes.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 16, 2012 | 4:47 pm

Gov. Jerry Brown doesn’t plan to waste any time selling his vision for California this year.

Hours after his State of the State speech Wednesday morning in Sacramento, he’s scheduled to be in Los Angeles to speak at City Hall. Then he’ll be in a private meeting with teachers at Bret Harte Elementary School in Burbank.

Read the rest of this entry »

BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com

Published: 15 January 2012 08:45 PM

Since 2008, Riverside County supervisors have doled out more than $11million to hundreds of community groups, but the funding could be in jeopardy as the county continues to face daunting financial challenges.

Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/15/2012 06:04:05 AM PST

San Bernardino, Highland, Grand Terrace and Loma Linda have began shuttering their redevelopment agencies, prompted by a state Supreme Court decision that is forcing 400 redevelopment agencies statewide to close.

Read the rest of this entry »

Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 01/15/2012 06:03:48 AM PST

MONTCLAIR – The City Council took its first step in dissolving its redevelopment agency, but officials are worried that the move may cause the city to default on a short-term bond it took out several years ago.

In a special meeting on Thursday, the City Council agreed to oversee the winding down of the Montclair Redevelopment Agency, as well as to transfer the agency’s housing assets and functions to the Montclair Housing Authority.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jan. 16, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

As unemployed Californians struggle to find work, Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed strict rules for parents on welfare: Get a job in two years or lose nearly half of cash aid along with training and child care.

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George Skelton

By George Skelton Capitol Journal
January 16, 2012

From Sacramento– Californians are heading into an intense, critical debate over the level of public service they’re willing to pay for. So it’s time to puncture some myths.

Everyone’s entitled to his own opinion, as the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan used to say, but not his own facts.

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