Sacramento, CA— April marks one year since the public was first made aware of the improper vacation buybacks for staff at the Department of Parks and Recreation. As the California Budget Fact Check has previously found, this revelation ultimately led…
The nonpartisan California State Auditor’s office recently released a report detailing California’s “net worth” as a state. As is a common annual practice in the business world, the Auditor totaled up all of the state’s unrestricted assets and income,…
As part of recent budget cuts, the Legislature scheduled reductions to the state’s premier financial aid program for students attending private colleges. Those cuts were expected to cost students $22 million in 2012-13 and $35 million in 2013-14. These pending…
Last year, investigative media reports found that, while state parks were slated for closure due to budget cuts, the Department of Parks and Recreation hid $54 million in revenue and gave away $271,000 in unauthorized vacation buybacks for selected staff. …
[avatar user="cconway" size="original" align="left"] On Tuesday, the Speaker of the Assembly introduced his bill which would add 1 million Californians to the Medi-Cal rolls as part of the implementation of Obama Care. The Legislative Analyst Office’s (LAOs) recent Fiscal Forecast…
An unwelcome tax bill may have recently hit your mailbox – a $150 parcel tax for property owners in areas where the state is responsible for fire protection. Assembly Republicans have strongly opposed this tax since it illegally passed the…
On October 1, California will mark the one year anniversary of the Public Safety Realignment program. Public Safety Realignment will eventually result in 33,000-50,000 felons shifting from state to local custody and 64,000 parolee felons being supervised by local probation…
Some in Sacramento have made the argument that real and significant budget cuts have been made in recent years. A recent Sacramento Bee article highlighted the view shared by the majority party that “spending (today) is 11 percent below the state’s pre-recession peak.” But…
Recent revelations about the Department of Parks and Recreation hiding $54 million dollars while threatening to close 70 state parks in the 2011-12 budget raises questions about other budget assumptions. These revelations come as California started a new fiscal year…
On June 15th, the Legislature adopted the 2012-13 budget (AB 1464). Amendments to the budget bill (AB 1497) and the education budget trailer bill (SB 1016), the bill that implements the education policy changes needed to make the budget work, were…
Sacramento, CA– Tomorrow is the constitutional deadline to adopt the 2012-13 budget. Democratic leaders have declared they will meet the deadline. As the budget moved through the process, Democrats argued that their majority vote budget is balanced with $8.6 billion…
On May 14th, the Governor released the May Revision of his proposed 2012-13 budget. The May Revision will be the starting point for final negotiations on the budget due by June 15th. Among the highlights of the May Revision: …
April revenue numbers bring May budget changes. On May 14, 2012 Governor Jerry Brown is expected to release a revised version of his January budget proposal. State tax collection from July 1, 2011 to April 30, 2012 will set the stage…
Governor Brown, in an interview on the Bay Area talk radio station KGO 810 last week, was quoted as saying the deficit is “probably bigger now” than the $9.2 billion he estimated earlier this year. This edition of Budget Fact…
