"The increase amounts to 360 more sex offenders whose whereabouts were unknown and who were not reporting to their parole officers last year."
"An Associated Press analysis of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation data shows that 2,706 paroled sex offenders dropped out of sight in the 15 months since the new law took effect in October 2011, compared to 2,346 in the 15 months before realignment. The numbers were obtained by the AP before their public release. That's an average of 180 sex offender fugitives each month, up from 156 before realignment."
"The state controller's review argued that San Bernardino's redevelopment agency "inappropriately" transferred $108 million to the San Bernardino Economic Development Corp., a nonprofit whose six-member governing board includes three members appointed by the City Council."
"The purpose of the asset transfer was to protect the RDA resources from elimination," the controller's report said. The controller's office also said the city held onto another $420.5 million in assets that should have been handed over to the successor agency."
Over the objections of state officials, Aetna and Blue Shield are going to raise their health care rates by an average of 11 percent -- a move that will affect 47,000 people.
From the LAT's Chad Terhune: "Last year, Aetna led the way for the industry's more defiant stance by proceeding with an 8% rate hike on some small-business policyholders despite objections from the state insurance department. In January, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones scolded Anthem for proceeding with an 11% premium hike for small businesses that he determined was excessive."
"Regulators and insurers often spar over estimates for patients' future medical use and costs that are used to justify these changes. Officials have been scrutinizing those numbers as the growth in U.S. healthcare spending hits historic lows."
"State officials have also objected to some health insurers charging people more this year to recoup fees related to the federal healthcare law that don't take effect until next year."
It turns out that a capital gains tax break for small businesses that has been on the books for more than 20 years is unconstitutional, so there is a bipartisan effort to make sure companies that took advantage of the tax break don't get penalized.
From the Bee's Claudia Buck: "But last year, after a state court of appeal decided the small-business tax incentives were unconstitutional, the state Franchise Tax Board figured it had only one option: retroactively collect an estimated $120 million from hundreds of Californians who took advantage of the tax breaks."
"In some cases, the surprise tax notices mean back taxes of $60,000 to $100,000, or more."
"That's stirred up a bipartisan effort – by state Sen. Ted Lieu , D-Torrance, and Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo – to stop what they call the FTB's unfair retroactive tax bills."
From the LA Daily News' Rick Orlov: "Measure A lost overwhelmingly. It received 117,820 votes, or 44.8 percent, in support while there were 145,049 votes, or 55.2 percent, against it."
"Officials asked City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana to develop a plan to deal with the budget, and a dispute was already shaping up over whether and how much the Los Angeles Police Department and Fire Department would be impacted."
"Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he remained committed to protecting public safety agencies from further cuts, even though there had been a warning the LAPD could lose 500 officers."
