October 11, 2010, The
Orange County Register - Most of you think California is broken.
There's no relief coming from Sacramento, only stalemate. The
budget deficit grows with no end in sight. On the business side,
there aren't enough jobs. California is No. 3 in the nation for
unemployment. For the last several weeks we have been asking you
how you feel about California's crisis, what you think are the most
pressing issues and how you think they should be fixed. You have
responded and we have heard you. This site is our effort to answer
you...
April 2, 2010, Howard
Bornstein, Stan Markuze, Cameron Percy, Lisha Wang and Moritz
Zander, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research - CalPERS,
CalSTRS, and UCRS1 together administer the pensions of
approximately 2.6 million Californians. Between June 2008 and June
2009, these three public pension funds lost a combined $109.7
billion in portfolio value (see Table 1). The ability of these
three funds to meet their future obligations has significant
implications for the fiscal health of the state and public
employers, the effective underwriters of many public pensions. In
this policy brief, we ask two questions: (1) what is the current
funding shortfall of CalPERS, CalSTRS, and UCRS, and (2) what
policies would prevent a similar shortfall in the future? … We
conclude that California’s public pension liabilities are
substantially understated. Given the consequences of pension
underfunding, we believe every effort should be made in short order
to implement policy changes to reverse the current shortfall and to
prevent a similar shortfall in the future. Specifically, improved
long-term funding outcomes can be influenced through higher
contributions, investment in less risky assets, and lower benefit
levels…
April 2010, Josh Barro
and Stuart Buck, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research - To all
the other fiscal travails facing this country’s states and largest
cities, now add their pension obligations, which are far greater
than they may realize or are willing to admit. This paper focuses
on the crisis in funding teachers’ pensions, because education is
often the largest program area in state budgets, making it an
obvious target for cuts. Although it is generally acknowledged that
education is the foundation of every modern society’s future
prosperity, schools unfortunately will have to compete with
retirees for scarce dollars. This competition is uneven, because
retirees have a legal claim on promised pension benefits that
supersedes schools’ budgetary needs. Consequently, Americans can
look forward to higher taxes and cuts in services, resulting in
fewer teachers, bigger classes, and facilities that are allowed to
deteriorate. In several states, these developments have already
arrived .. California, the most populous state, has the largest
unfunded teacher pension liability: almost $100 billion…
March 2010, Robert P.
Murphy, Ph.D. and Jason Clemens, Pacific Research Institute -
Robert P. Murphy, Ph.D. and Jason Clemens, Pacific Research
Institute In a quest for solutions, this second installment of the
California Prosperity Project assesses California’s tax burden, the
structure of its tax system, and how both of these affect the
state’s competitiveness. The research on which this study is based
shows that taxes matter. When we impose taxes on certain things, we
basically tend to get less of those things. Taxes influence
decisions concerning work effort, savings, investment,
entrepreneurship, risk taking, and job creation. These are all
things California needs. Additional work, greater investing by
individuals and businesses, and more entrepreneurship are the
foundations for a prosperous society. Understanding how tax rates,
and in particular marginal tax rates, influence these activities is
critical in understanding the challenges facing California…
2009-2010 Saramento
County Grand Jury - While employers, employees, and retirees seem
to consider an employer-sponsored health plan a desirable benefit,
the continuing escalation of health care and premium costs places
enormous fiscal pressure on school districts that try to maintain
the benefits. Unless union contracts are renegotiated so that
benefits are reduced or employees contribute to the payment of
healthcare costs, the consequences will be devastating. Health care
costs will continue to escalate. If school districts fail to plan
for funding of negotiated obligations for retiree health benefits,
and employees and/or unions fail to assume some of the costs of the
benefits, school districts will be unable to provide a quality
education for students and may become bankrupt…
Winter 2010, Chris
Edwards, Cato Journal - Public sector compensation is becoming a
high-profile policy issue. While private sector wages and benefits
have stagnated during the recession, many governments continue to
increase compensation for public sector workers. At the same time,
there are growing concerns about huge underfunding in public sector
retirement plans across the nation. This article examines the
compensation of state and local workers, who account for 20 million
of the 23 million civilian government workers in the United States.
State and local workers include teachers, college instructors,
police officers, health care administrators, and many other
occupational groups…
August 2009, Robert P.
Murphy, Ph.D. and Jason Clemens, Pacific Research Institute -
California is blessed in many ways. The nation’s most populous
state enjoys advantageous trade access to Asian and North American
markets, and its well-diversified economy ranges from basic
agriculture to advanced research and development. California is
home to some of the world’s most prestigious and productive
universities, which serve as hubs of high-tech innovation.
California also features a hospitable climate that offers real
lifestyle advantages to its residents. And yet, with all these
assets, the state’s economy is very ill. The economic sickness,
which has manifested itself in the ongoing budget crisis and
worsening debt status of the state, goes well beyond the current
cyclical economic downturn that is burdening most states. In
category after category of economic performance, the Golden State
is generally a laggard state, which should be unacceptable given
its vast potential and natural advantages...
May 9, 2007, 2006-2007
Orange County Grand Jury Examination of CUSD "Enemies Lists,"
Superior Court of the State of California, Central Justice Center,
County of Orange, In Re The Proceeding of: Allegation of Misuse of
Public Funds with Capo Unified School District
April 26, 2007, 2006-2007
Orange County Grand Jury Examination of CUSD "Enemies Lists,"
Superior Court of the State of California, Central Justice Center,
County of Orange, In Re The Proceeding of: Allegation of Misuse of
Public Funds with Capo Unified School District
April 24, 2007, 2006-2007
Orange County Grand Jury Examination of CUSD "Enemies Lists,"
Superior Court of the State of California, Central Justice Center,
County of Orange, In Re The Proceeding of: Allegation of Misuse of
Public Funds with Capo Unified School District
January 19, 2007,
2006-2007 Orange County Grand Jury Examination of CUSD "Enemies
Lists," Superior Court of the State of California, Central Justice
Center, County of Orange, In Re The Proceeding of: Allegation of
Misuse of Public Funds with Capo Unified School District
November 28-29, 2006,
2006-2007 Orange County Grand Jury Examination of CUSD "Enemies
Lists," Superior Court of the State of California, Central Justice
Center, County of Orange, In Re The Proceeding of: Allegation of
Misuse of Public Funds with Capo Unified School District
October 18, 2006,
2006-2007 Orange County Grand Jury Examination of CUSD "Enemies
Lists," Superior Court of the State of California, Central Justice
Center, County of Orange, In Re The Proceeding of: Allegation of
Misuse of Public Funds with Capo Unified School District
October 17-18, 2006,
2006-2007 Orange County Grand Jury Examination of CUSD "Enemies
Lists," Superior Court of the State of California, Central Justice
Center, County of Orange, In Re The Proceeding of: Allegation of
Misuse of Public Funds with Capo Unified School District
August 21, 2006,
2006-2007 Orange County Grand Jury Examination of CUSD "Enemies
Lists," Superior Court of the State of California, Central Justice
Center, County of Orange, In Re The Proceeding of: Allegation of
Misuse of Public Funds with Capo Unified School District
August 16, 2006,
2006-2007 Orange County Grand Jury Examination of CUSD "Enemies
Lists," Superior Court of the State of California, Central Justice
Center, County of Orange, In Re The Proceeding of: Allegation of
Misuse of Public Funds with Capo Unified School District
1990-1991 Orange County
Grand Jury - In connection with expenditures of public funds in
support of the May 9, 1989 election ballot, "Measure A," the grand
jury found that the board of trustees committed the following legal
and ethical violations: (I) improper use of district funds and
property for political activities, including (A) "incentive pay"
for principals, (B) phone banks for calling voters, (C) employing
political consultants for assistance in the election, and (D) bulk
mailing privileges and print shop facilities to distribute mass
mailings promoting the election; (II) improperly closed school
board meeting; (III) failure to report expenditures as required by
law; and (IV) improper use of pupil records…