The following information was released by California State Controller John Chiang. State Controller John Chiang today released his monthly report covering California’s cash balance, receipts and disbursements in April 2013. Total revenues equaled $15.03 billion, narrowly missing estimates by $119.9 million (-0.8 percent). Through the first 10 months of the fiscal year, total revenues exceeded [...]

The following information was released by the office of Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-CAAD65). How would you balance the state budget? Join Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-CAAD65) and NEXT 10, an independent, nonpartisan organization, for an interactive workshop. Be a legislator for a day! Do you have what it takes to balance the budget? The Next 10 [...]

The following editorial was written by California State Board of Equalization Vice Chair Michelle Steel. Ignoring hundreds of billions of dollars in unfunded retirement liabilities, the condition of the California economy, and the burden that government intervention places on working families and businesses, Gov. Jerry Brown recently released what he called a balanced budget for [...]

After approving Proposition 30, residents of northwest Orange County may have thought that funding for public schools had at least been protected against further cuts. After all, a big selling point for the proposition was that its passage would assure that funding would remain flat — no increase, but at least no decrease. On Thursday, [...]

The following information was released by California State Controller John Chiang. State Controller John Chiang today released his monthly report covering California’s cash balance, receipts and disbursements in December 2012. After accounting for timing issues related to sales tax deposits, December’s totals were $103.4 million above (1.1 percent) estimates found in the 2012-13 state budget. [...]

California State Controller John Chiang recently released a report on revenues collected by the State of California for the month of November 2012. Revenue was dramatically below projections in the 2012-2013 state budget as proposed by Governor Jerry Brown and approved by the California State Legislature. A bunch of folks immediately started hollering that this [...]

The following information was released by the California Controller. State Controller John Chiang today released his monthly report covering California’s cash balance, receipts and disbursements in November 2012, showing total revenues were $806.8 million below (-10.8 percent) projections contained in the 2012-13 State budget. “November’s disappointing revenues stand in stark contrast to recent news that [...]

Governor Brown’s successful campaign to raise taxes under cover of saving public education has proved to be a conversion experience for those yearning to further raise taxes in California. Easy peasy! Instead of fixing spending priorities in the State’s General Fund budget, propose new taxes to fund public education. Within a week of the passage [...]

The non-partisan California Legislative Analyst’s Office finds itself in unfamiliar waters with the release of its 18th annual edition of the State’s Fiscal Outlook. The outlook for the State budget isn’t a complete disaster. Here is a summary of the report: (Emphasis added.) Arriving at multibillion-dollar operating surpluses is not a lock. First, steady economic [...]

The following information was released by California State Controller John Chiang. Emphasis has been added. State Controller John Chiang today released his monthly report covering California’s cash balance, receipts and disbursements in September 2012, showing that total revenues were $162.5 million below (2.2 percent) projections contained in the 2012-13 State budget. “September’s numbers narrowly missed [...]

The following article was first published the Cypress College newsletter @Cypress for Sept. 7, 2012 (pdf). It is republished here with the permission of Marc S. Posner. If Gov. Brown’s tax initiative passes in November: Community colleges would receive $210 million in additional funds in 2012-13. Passage of the measure would make room for an [...]

The following article was first published the Cypress College newsletter @Cypress for Sept. 7, 2012 (pdf). It is republished here with the permission of Marc S. Posner. First-day enrollment again had the college at 97% of scheduled capacity for a second consecutive fall semester. That number is just one indication of the strong demand for [...]