Still not walking his talk.State Assembly Member Tony Thurmond has proposed legislation imposing a tax on private prisons in California to help fund early education. Early education is great but levying a tax on private prisons would generate next to no money for it. That’s because only 1.5% — less than $200 million — of California’s $12 billion of prison … Continue reading Tony Thurmond Hits The Wrong Target
Category: Taxes
New California taxes pay for pensions, not schools
Bloomberg View Most Californians would be surprised to learn that 100 percent of education’s share of the tax increase proposed by Governor Jerry Brown will go to pensions instead of classrooms. But that would be no surprise to longtime observers of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, which administers teacher pensions. Here’s why: After retirement, teachers are unconditionally guaranteed … Continue reading New California taxes pay for pensions, not schools
California must address leaks in budget before raising taxes
Sacramento Bee In an effort to preserve existing services, Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed a temporary tax increase to generate new revenue of $9 billion per year for seven years. The Legislative Analyst’s Office says the proposed tax increase will yield less. Either way, little of the new money will help existing services for long … Continue reading California must address leaks in budget before raising taxes
Occupy protesters’ timing is right, focus wrong
San Francisco Chronicle I have been wondering when young people would march. For three decades, older people have been stealing younger people’s futures. In the 1980s, tax cuts and increased spending produced deficits that might not have mattered to Dick Cheney then but are costing his grandchildren now. In the 1990s, a Housing-Finance Complex of … Continue reading Occupy protesters’ timing is right, focus wrong
A grand bargain: tax hike, pension fix
Sacramento Bee When it comes to technology, innovation and the arts, California often sets the bar for the rest of the country. Unfortunately the same can’t be said about California’s fiscal governance as the state limps from deficit to deficit, diverts spending from critical services to pay off past debts, and all too often enacts … Continue reading A grand bargain: tax hike, pension fix
Voters should get a say on state’s biggest expense
San Francisco Chronicle In his State of the State address, Gov. Jerry Brown said that “it would be unconscionable (for the Legislature) to tell the electors of this state that they have no right to decide whether it is better to (extend taxes) or to chop another $12 billion out of schools, public safety, our … Continue reading Voters should get a say on state’s biggest expense
CalPERS can’t have it both ways with taxpayers’ money
Sacramento Bee Recently Californians learned that CalPERS, the state’s largest public pension fund, did not disclose material information to the state Legislature before an important vote a decade ago on a bill to materially boost pension benefits for state government employees. According to veteran reporter Ed Mendel of Calpensions.com, newly discovered documents from 1999 indicate … Continue reading CalPERS can’t have it both ways with taxpayers’ money