Nearly 20 years after its bankruptcy and amid a prolonged spat with the state, Orange County this year may wind up footing a bill for its own fiscal imprudence -- a bill that apparently could have been easily avoided but which now may result in cuts in services and layoffs.
From Norberto Santana in the Voice of OC: "County leaders have been fighting with Sacramento for several years after Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget staffers identified nearly $50 million in property taxes that could be taken away from Orange County and applied it to the fiscal 2012 budget."
"The money was left in peril when Orange County supervisors refinanced the 1994 bankruptcy debt and disconnected an important legislative authorization that allowed the county to receive a special share of vehicle licensing fees."
"Despite warnings from the media, supervisors and their army of legislative advocates never reconnected the legislative authorization."
CalPERS, which okayed increases in rates in long-term health coverage for its members, now faces a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of 100,000 members who faced dramatic hikes.
From the Bee's Dale Kasler: "The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, says policyholders were duped into thinking the rates would be fixed and "reasonably priced."
"CalPERS approved 85 percent rate hikes for most policyholders last fall, and policyholders were officially notified of the increases in February. The rate increases take effect in 2015."
"The pension fund has said the rate hikes are necessary to stabilize the program, which has suffered major losses. Unlike pensions, the insurance program isn't subsidized by taxpayers and has to pay its own way, CalPERS says."
From EdSource's John Fensterwald: "Eight California school districts collectively will receive the first district waiver from penalties under the No Child Left Behind law, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced Tuesday..."
"The one-year waiver, issued after weeks of intense negotiations between federal officials and superintendents in the CORE districts, will free the districts from key sanctions of NCLB and provide them with flexibility to use more than $100 million in Title I money for school improvement, including training teachers in Common Core standards. The districts will stop NCLB’s accountability clock, in which additional schools would be labeled as failing, and instead be able to create broader measures of student achievement beyond standardized test scores."
"The waiver comes in the nick of time to take effect this school year. Duncan has issued waivers to 39 states so far and is reviewing applications for five more. An additional six states either have not applied or, like California, had their applications denied."
A key bill in the package of so-called scope of practice legislation to give nurse practioners a greater say-so in care decisions
hit a roadblock in the Assembly.From Pauline Bartolone at Capitol Public Radio: ""The Assembly Committee on Business, Professions and Consumer Protection voted down the measure, but the bill’s author says he wants it reconsidered. Democratic State Senator Ed Hernandez says lifting restrictions on nurses would help meet a new demand for primary care under the Affordable Care Act, especially in areas without enough doctors."
“Nurse practitioners understand when it is appropriate to refer, just like an optometrist, just like a dentist, just like a general practicing physician," said Hernandez..."
"A bill to expand pharmacists’ scope of practice passed the same committee. It will be heard next in the Assembly Health Committee."
Wind energy is a big deal in the U.S. -- and getting bigger, according to a new federal report. Texas, by the way, has double the wind generation of California.
From KCET's Chris Clarke: "According to new reports from the U.S. Department of Energy, the nation's wind power sector is growing faster than ever before. Wind power was the United States' single largest source of new electrical generating capacity installed in 2012, and nearly three quarters of wind turbine parts installed that year were made domestically. That's a tripling of domestic production over figures from 2006. And some of the growth comes in a sector that surprised us."
"The reports, the 2012 Wind Technologies Market Report (compiled by DoE in partnership with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) and the2012 Market Report on Wind Technologies in Distributed Applications (co-written with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) were released simultaneously on Tuesday. According to the new data, 43 percent of all new U.S. electrical power generation built in 2012 consisted of wind turbines, adding up to 13 gigawatts of new generating capacity, a doubling over 2011's figures."
"Texas leads the nation in wind power with 12 gigawatts of wind capacity, more than twice what we have here in California. Iowa, South Dakota, and Kansas derive more than a fifth of their power consumption from wind."
And from our "Long Way Home" file comes word that commuting long distances to work is bad for you, really bad for you -- everything from back pain to family stress to obesity. We knew it all the time. Go midtown!
