CALIFORNIA - 2014-2015 Budget Signed

REMINDER:  A budget, any budget, is ONLY a plan.  It does NOT spend one penny.  Actual money is spent when the Appropriation Bills are passed.

"Gov. Brown signs $156B budget in San Diego" Fox 5 News San Diego, 6/20/2014

Gov. Jerry Brown signed California’s $156 billion budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year at a ceremony Friday in San Diego.

Brown — joined at the signing ceremony by Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, and Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley — described the spending plan as “not perfect” but a sign of California’s fiscal progress over the past few years.

“What this budget shows is balance, paying down debts, putting almost $10 billion into public schools, creating a rainy day fund and starting to really tie up and shore up the teachers’ retirement fund,” Brown said.

He said it also was a sign that the state government was working, and that the majority could actually govern, with cooperation from the minority party.

The visit to San Diego was the third during the budget cycle for Brown, who was in town on the day his budget proposal was released in January, and last month when he issued revisions.  He said he wanted to sign the budget in San Diego out of respect for Atkins, who took over leadership of the Legislature’s lower chamber last month.

The state spending plan for the fiscal year starting July 1 includes a $1.6 billion “Rainy Day Fund” and $142 million for drought-response measures, such as firefighting, water management, wildlife preservation and food assistance.

Last month, the governor reached an agreement with the Legislature on the reserve fund that would:

• Require the state to bank large increases in capital gains revenues, which are the most volatile form of tax income;

• require supplemental payments to accelerate the payoff of debts and liabilities;

• raise the dollar amount of the rainy day fund to 10 percent of the general fund revenue;

• allow withdrawals to be made from the fund when needed during recessions, within prescribed limits; and

• create a reserve account for education to avoid future funding cuts.

He said the fund would be “untouchable” while he was in office, until it was needed due to poor economic conditions.

Additional agreements with legislative leaders last week will add at least $180 million in overtime pay for health-care workers who provide care to the disabled and elderly in their homes, direct a quarter of cap-and-trade revenue toward construction of a high-speed rail line and expand preschool opportunities for economically disadvantaged children.

“No budget is perfect, and no one got everything that they wanted,” Atkins said.  “But with this budget, that ensures stability and expands opportunity, we have a chance to put the great recession even further behind us.”

The general fund, for discretionary spending, will be almost $108 billion.

Brown’s Republican opponent in the November election, former Treasury Department official Neel Kashkari, said the budget is a “giveaway for special interests paid for by working families,” despite the “nation’s highest poverty rate” and a “failing” education system.

“Higher gas prices for his pet High Speed Rail project, a last minute tax break for a favored industry and micro-managing local school spending from Sacramento Brown’s budget priorities represent more of the same back-room dealing from Sacramento,” Kashkari said.  “Unfortunately for the millions of workers struggling to find good jobs, kids stuck in failing schools and families trying to make ends meet, this budget does nothing to provide a better future through economic opportunity for all.”

After signing the budget, Brown traveled to Los Angeles for a function with Latino legislators.

CALIFORNIA - State Budeget Deficite Gone

"California Gov. Jerry Brown Makes Tough Choices to Balance State Budget" PBS Newshour 1/15/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Gov. Jerry Brown has been able to turn in a balanced state budget for California by pushing for tax increases on the wealthy, hiking sales taxes for everybody and cutting many state services. But detractors have said Brown used fiscal tricks to achieve the balance. NewsHour correspondent Spencer Michels reports.

JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour):  And next: to a remarkable turnaround in the nation's most populous state.

Last week, California Gov. Jerry Brown proclaimed his state's huge budget deficit had disappeared. But some politicians in the Golden State are skeptical.

NewsHour correspondent Spencer Michels sat down with Brown in San Francisco.

His report is a co-production with our colleagues at KQED San Francisco, and begins with some background on the fiscal troubles and the budget fix.

HEALTH CARE - State Deadline for Health Insurance Exchanges

"With Obama Re-Elected, States Scramble Over Health Law" by ABBY GOODNOUGH and ROBERT PEAR, New York Times 11/8/2012

Excerpt

After nearly three years of legal and political threats that kept President Obama’s health care law in a constant state of uncertainty, his re-election on Tuesday all but guarantees that the historic legislation will survive.

Now comes another big hurdle: making it work.

The election came just 10 days before a critical deadline for states in carrying out the law, and many that were waiting for the outcome must now hustle to comply. Such efforts will coincide with epic negotiations between Mr. Obama and Congress over federal spending and taxes, where the administration will inevitably face pressure to scale back some of the costliest provisions of the law.

Mr. Obama faces crucial choices about strategy that could determine the success of the health care overhaul: Will the administration, for example, try to address the concerns of insurers, employers and some consumer groups who worry that the law’s requirements could increase premiums? Or will it insist on the stringent standards favored by liberal policy advocates inside and outside the government?

But for now — with Democrats retaining control of the Senate and Mitt Romney’s vow to “repeal and replace” the law no longer a threat — supporters are exulting.

“For our district and for our country, the debate on Obamacare is over,” declared Bill Foster, a Democrat elected Tuesday to the House from a suburban Chicago district.

Many supporters feel one of Mr. Obama’s most important tasks will be to step up efforts to promote and explain the law to a public that remains sharply divided and confused about it. In exit polls on Tuesday, nearly half of voters said the law should be either partly or fully repealed.

“There is still a tremendous amount of disinformation out there,” said Jeff Goldsmith, a health industry analyst based in Virginia. “If you actually are going to implement this law, people need to know what’s in it — not just the puppies-and-ice-cream parts, but ‘Here are the broader social changes intended and how they can help you.’ ”

Already, advocacy groups eager for the law to succeed have shifted into a higher gear. One such group, Families USA, held a conference call on Thursday with about 300 advocates around the country to strategize about next steps, said Ronald F. Pollack, the group’s executive director. Enroll America, a sister organization, will hold focus groups next week in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas to collect ideas for a public education campaign.

Much depends on the states as they decide in the coming weeks and months whether to build online marketplaces known as insurance exchanges, where individuals and small businesses can shop for health plans, and whether to expand their Medicaid programs to reach many more low-income people.

The clock is ticking on the exchange question in particular: states have until next Friday to decide whether they will build their own exchange or let the federal government run one for them. Some states have asked the administration for more time.

ECONOMY - Reprise, States' Fiscal Problems

"States Plagued by Fiscal Problems, Pension Payments" PBS Newshour 7/17/2012

Excerpt

JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour): The troubles with the U.S. economy and the possible fallout were on full display today. A task force report told of states facing ever-deeper budget holes.

But the chairman of the Federal Reserve withheld any promise of immediate help. Ben Bernanke came before the Senate Banking Committee acknowledging that the economy has suffered a series of setbacks: a slump in hiring and job growth, a slowdown in manufacturing activity and reduced spending by consumers.

But while citing the trends, the Fed chair wouldn't commit on if or when the Central Bank might act again to boost growth.

BEN BERNANKE, Federal Reserve chairman: We're looking very carefully at the economy, trying to judge whether or not the loss of momentum we have seen recently is enduring and whether or not the economy is likely to continue to make progress towards lower unemployment and more satisfactory labor market conditions. If those conditions -- if that doesn't occur, obviously, we have to consider additional steps.

ECONOMY - State Budgets vs State Benefits Revisited

"Pension Shortfalls Force States to Consider Cutting Benefits" PBS Newshour 6/19/2012

Excerpt

JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour): More and more states are struggling to keep their pension promises, as the ripple effects of recession erode their revenues. A new study painted a stark picture today of just how big the budget hole has become.

GOV. PAT QUINN, D-Ill.: This has to be the year of pension reform once and for all in our state of Illinois.

JEFFREY BROWN: For governors like Illinois's Pat Quinn, the already-huge pension gap just keeps growing. It's the difference between what they owe in public employee pensions and what's actually set aside.

A new analysis reports that nationally the shortfall in funds covering millions of workers reached $757 billion in fiscal year 2010. That marked a 9 percent increase from the year before. All told, 34 states fell short of safe levels of pension funding, roughly 80 percent of long-term obligations.

The study said hard-hit states have redirected funds away from pensions to more immediate needs. In Rhode Island, for example, state treasurer Gina Raimondo highlighted the problem for NewsHour economics correspondent Paul Solman last year.

Significant excerpt

KIL HUH, Pew Center on the States: Well, the widening gap has been growing.

As you mentioned, it has grown percent from 2009 to 2010 and collectively it's $1.38 trillion between what states have promised their workers and what they have set aside to pay for these benefits. These promises include both pensions and retiree health care.

So now states want workers to take the hit for a mistake made by the state legislatures? How typical.

Reference from video:

"Retirees hit amid CF bankruptcy endgame" by Ted Nesi, WPRI 4/27/2012

Excerpt

Central Falls is being carefully and painfully nursed back to health.

Last August the tiny city became the first Rhode Island municipality to file for bankruptcy, weighed down by $80 million in retirement benefits promised to its employees, deep cuts in state aid and a moribund economy. Its 19,376 residents - more than half of them Hispanic and 42% of them immigrants - have a median household income of $34,389, more than $20,000 below the state average.

National experts warned the bankruptcy process could drag on for years. But a concerted effort by the Chafee administration - and a lack of alternatives for its retirees - have Central Falls near the finish line after less than a year. The city could be out of bankruptcy within three months, but the situation is bittersweet, according to Rosemary Booth Gallogly, the state's director of revenue.

"We're not really proud of what came out of that," Gallogly told WPRI.com. "While we're really pleased with how our hard work has paid off, we're not really gleeful because there were a lot of people who were hurt by it. So it's kind of a balance. We really haven't tried to say, wow, we really got this done."

ECONOMY - States 'Robbing' Housing Aid

"Needy States Use Housing Aid Cash to Plug Budgets" by SHAILA DEWAN, New York Times 5/15/2012

Excerpt

Hundreds of millions of dollars meant to provide a little relief to the nation’s struggling homeowners is being diverted to plug state budget gaps.

In a budget proposed this week, California joined more than a dozen states that want to help close gaping shortfalls using money paid by the nation’s biggest banks and earmarked for foreclosure prevention, investigations of financial fraud and blunting the ill effects of the housing crisis. California was awarded more than $400 million from the banks, and Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed using the bulk of that sum to pay the state’s debts.

The money was part of a national settlement valued at $25 billion and negotiated with five big banks over abuses in their mortgage and foreclosure processes.

The settlement, reached in February after a year of talks and intervention by the Obama administration, was the second-largest in history involving the states, trailing the tobacco industry settlement, and represented the first large-scale commitment by banks to provide direct aid to borrowers.

As part of the settlement, the banks agreed to pay the states $2.5 billion, money intended to help homeowners and mitigate the effects of the foreclosure surge. But critics complained that this was the only cash the banks were required to pay — the rest comes in the form of “credits” for reducing mortgage debt and other activities. Even that relatively small amount has proved too great a temptation for lawmakers.

Only 27 states have devoted all their funds from the banks to housing programs, according to a report by Enterprise Community Partners, a national affordable housing group. So far about 15 states have said they will use all or most of the money for other purposes.

"Has proved too great a temptation for lawmakers." Now that's an understatement. Also shows just how ethical governments can be if you leave a loophole.

CALIFORNIA - Voter Registration Computer Upgrade Problems

"Technology failures prompt criticism of secretary of state" by Will Evans, California Watch 12/20/2011

Excerpt

The latest technology snafus to hit (California) Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office have added to growing frustration from registrars and watchdog groups, who say Bowen has been unresponsive to their concerns.

The server crash that brought down California’s campaign finance disclosure database for more than two weeks now also has incapacitated the state system for validating new voter registrations.

This, on top of a years-long delay in creating a new voter registration database, as well as other elections issues, has ratcheted up the criticism directed at Bowen, who's in her second term.

"Sometimes, I feel like we’re having to knock really hard on the door and scream that we’re out here and need time and attention and guidance and leadership," said Gail Pellerin, president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials. "It’s been really hard to get a seat at the table."

Bowen acknowledged the latest technology problems have been "extremely frustrating," but said she has always worked closely with county officials and advocates to formulate policy and fix problems.

"Obviously, there’s always room to improve, but I’m a little puzzled because I’ve made it a priority to serve the needs of elections officials," Bowen said. "I want to make sure the registrars know how supportive I am, because they’re the ones who are doing the heavy lifting."

The server that runs the Cal-Access database, which lets the public view campaign contribution and lobbying records, crashed Nov. 30. The CalVoter registration system, which helps verify the identities of those registering to vote, went down with it.

Pellerin, who is Santa Cruz County's registrar of voters, said the crash is causing an unwieldy backlog. For Sacramento County Registrar Jill LaVine, it was getting in the way of tallying signatures for ballot initiative campaigns because some petition signers needed their voter registration applications validated in order to count.

Bowen's staff is processing the validation requests manually, and there should be no more than an hour or two of delay, said spokeswoman Nicole Winger.

"We have gone to such great lengths to make sure that this doesn’t impact them at all," Winger said.

CalVoter and Cal-Access should be working again sometime in the next two weeks, she said.

Derek Cressman, Common Cause's Western states regional director, is calling for legislative oversight hearings on the secretary of state's technology operations.

"We've just seen too many problems," Cressman said. "The public needs to get to the bottom of what’s really going on."

Bowen, who was elected secretary of state in 2006 and re-elected in 2010, said her staff has been working hard to transition from the "ancient" hardware and software systems she inherited.

"It’s what’s been keeping IT staff up at night," Bowen said.

But Bowen said a full upgrade to Cal-Access would cost millions of dollars that the state doesn't have. She pointed to cuts to education and support for the elderly and those with disabilities.

"It’s pretty tough to argue that those functions are less important than a brand-new, shiny Cal-Access, which I would love to have," she said. "I don’t want to lose credibility on things that I need by asking for things where the timing just isn't right."

California has access to federal funding to create a new statewide voter registration database, but that process has been marred by years of delays. Bowen's office fired the contractor on that project last year and is still working to find a new one. The system isn't expected to be in place until 2015. Bowen blames the problems on the state's procurement process.

California, where bureaucratic logjams have become an art.