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John Myers is Sacramento Bureau Chief for KQED's The California Report, heard on public radio stations around the state. More about John ...
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A glimpse of the policies, people, and politics of California state government, from John Myers of The California Report
Monthly Archives: November 2011
The Crowding Field of 2012 Tax Initiatives
California voters have long had a reputation as anti-tax, a reputation that explains why so many proposals either fizzle before ever making it to the ballot… or are roundly rejected on Election Day. But the November 2012 ballot appears poised … Continue reading
Rethinking Budget Trigger Unlikely, Says Speaker
Assembly Speaker John Perez isn't ruling it out — never say never, one supposes — but nonetheless says that talk of the Legislature stopping, or even just rejiggering, the budget's automatic spending cuts isn't likely to go anywhere. "I don’t … Continue reading
Super Committee for California's Initiative Process
Frustrated by the tendency of elected officials to kowtow to political pressure and the unchecked power of interest groups to write their own laws that never get revisited, California's latest governance reform effort proposes a new third way: a citizens … Continue reading
Podcast: Trigger Talk
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And now, the final debate of the 2011 budget saga: was the $2 billion trigger cut provision a fiscal insurance policy, a risky bet for millions who depend on targeted services, or simply a political necessity in a very polarized … Continue reading
Don't Cut Higher Ed. And Don't Ask Me to Pay More!
Say what you will about Californians, but when it comes to their desires and demands about government services, they are consistently inconsistent. A newly released statewide poll shows that while large majorities of residents are angry… even downright depressed… about … Continue reading
LAO Predicts Trigger Pulled On Budget Cuts
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The annual fiscal forecast of the Legislative Analyst's Office is always interesting to budget wonks, but never so consequential to the services used by millions of Californians as it is this year. That forecast, released this morning, projects the state … Continue reading
710,924 Signatures for Overturning Senate Map. And Yet...
The sole challenge to the work of California's citizen redistricting panel appears to have crossed a significant milestone over the weekend, but still faces some tough odds to actually blocking the use of the panel's work in 2012. Starting last … Continue reading
Podcast: Fixing What's Broken
There's an awful lot of discussion these days about what's broken in California's system of government, and no shortage of ideas on how to fix it. But what is in short supply: consensus on how to do so. This week, … Continue reading
California Supreme Court Slugfest Over Redevelopment
SAN FRANCISCO — The crux of the legal fight waged this morning in front of California's seven Supreme Court justices seems to be who controls the fate of local redevelopment agencies: legislators or voters? And even then, is that fate … Continue reading
Analyst: Take a Pass on Tinkering With Current Worker Pensions
While referring to Governor Jerry Brown's proposal for changes in public employee pensions as a "bold, excellent starting point," the state's independent fiscal analyst's office nonetheless concludes that neither Brown's proposal — nor any other — that seeks to rejigger … Continue reading
