Gov. Brown releases his revised budget today, a spending plan that will reflect the tax receipts from the April 15 deadline, and he is sticking with his plan to get voter approval of any new taxes -- even if it's after the fact.
From the LAT's Shane Gioldmacher: "Having failed to win enough Republican votes to
put the taxes on the ballot in June, the governor is expected to ask lawmakers
to impose at least some of the levies first and seek Californians' blessing
after the fact, said officials with knowledge of Brown's plan."
"The governor faces rough seas in his quest for
billions of dollars in additional income, sales and vehicle taxes."
"GOP lawmakers' resolve to block both a legislative vote for
the taxes and a public referendum has intensified with recent news that state
revenue is outpacing projections. The uptick could continue, they say, erasing
billions from a $15-billion deficit."
Speaking of budgets, how does someone miscalculate the incoming revenue by $2.5 billion? The Bee's Kevin Yamamura takes a look.
"When Gov. Jerry Brown issues his May budget revision
Monday, it will likely include billions in state tax revenue not envisioned by forecasters just
five months ago."
"For some, the revelation has turned the state budget
debate on its head. Republicans say it shows that tax extensions sought by
Brown are unnecessary. Schools are less likely to face the doomsday scenarios
that were contemplated in recent weeks."
"It could have been worse; just two years ago during the
Great Recession, forecasters were short by $19 billion."
"You can do everything right, but your forecast
comes out wrong," said Jay Chamberlain, who became chief of financial
research at the Department of Finance last year. "You know you're going to
be wrong. It's just a question of how much you're going to be wrong."
California's ethnic mix is changing -- no surprise there -- but here's a fact that may be startle you: There are fewer white people living in California than there were a decade ago. The Bee's Steve Magagnini and Phillip Reese have the story.
"The number of non-Hispanic whites in California has fallen by 850,000 since the turn
of the century, from 15.8 million in 2000 to 14.95 million in 2010."
"The Golden State's struggling economy is driving the
trend, demographers say. Whites in general are having fewer children than they
did a generation ago, in some cases because they feel they can't afford it. The
result: White Californians are dying off faster than they are
being born."
"The tough economy also has fueled a white exodus.
Hundreds of thousands of white people have left the state since the 2000 census. And unlike generations past, fewer
whites from other states are moving to California to make their fortunes. The state has
experienced a net loss of 700,000 whites to other states – and a net loss of
1.5 million people across all ethnic groups."
Some retiring state workers have received huge cash payouts when they leave government service, reflecting unused vacation time that has been accumulated far beyond the maximum allowed. The LAT's Jack Dolan tells the tale.
"Prison doctor Fong Lai received $594,976 when he retired
in 2010. Like most state employees, Lai was supposed to bank no more than 80
days of vacation, but his payment represented more than 2 1/2 years of unused
time off."
"Jay Wickizer, an administrator for the Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection, saved about the same number of days, resulting in
a $294,440 check upon his retirement last year. Former parole agent Thomas
Berns accrued nearly three years' worth of time off, allowing him a $268,990
cash-out, state records show."
"Such payouts are almost unheard of in the private sector. Most companies allow
employees to accrue a few weeks of vacation, but after that it's "use it
or lose it," said Steven Frates, research director of Pepperdine
University's Davenport Institute on public policy. "The theory behind
vacations, of course, is rest and recuperation and recharge."
"But in state government, lax oversight, understaffing and a spate of furloughs
in recent years have resulted in widespread stockpiling."
Pension reform efforts in the Legislature, meanshile, are stalled along partisan lines, reports Ed Mendel of CalPensions.
"It’s the usual partisan warfare as a deeply polarized
Legislature deals with public pensions, an issue inflamed bv rising costs and
alarming forecasts during a time of deep government budget cuts and eroding
private-sector retirement benefits."
"Democrats and their public employee union allies have big
legislative majorities and the governorship. Republicans have the leverage of
two GOP votes needed in each house for a budget-balancing tax extension and the
threat of an initiative."
"Unions say the pension problem can be solved by the
recovery of pension fund investments from an unusually deep recession and by
labor contract negotiations, which often raise worker payments toward their
pensions and lower benefits for new hires."
And finally, we open our "Who's in a Hurry, Anyway?" file to read the tale of Boston's transportation system, where bonuses are paid when things slow down. Believe it or not...
"Time and again, state transportation officials have blamed bad
weather and old trains for most of the commuter rail delays that made tens of
thousands of people late to work through much of last winter."
"But a three-month Globe investigation suggests another
contributing cause for the commuter rail system’s chronic tardiness: the
well-connected company that runs the railroad collects millions in bonuses for
“on-time performance’’ even when the system’s overall service is lousy."
"In a series of contract changes that were never discussed at MBTA
board meetings, the T eliminated and altered penalty provisions that would have
cost the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company an estimated $32.6 million
for late trains and bad customer service from 2003 to the present, according to
a Globe analysis. One 2004 change lowered the fine for being at least five
minutes late at rush hour from $500 per train to $100; another capped the total
penalty for late or canceled trains at $28,125 per month."
Think the Kingston Trio did a song about this...
