About the Blogger
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
Category Archives: CA Government
Does California Need A Budget Cop?
The one thing that the recent debate over who gets to call a California budget balanced has shown… is that perhaps the old system has finally run its course. For generations, legislators and governors promised that the state's fiscal plan … Continue reading
Take It to the Limit... and Beyond?
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The television ad features a portly man at a restaurant table, being brought plate after plate of heaping portions, as the announcer mockingly says, "Tell him it's time the people took control of gluttonous government spending." The commercial aired in … Continue reading
You Go Your Way, I'll Go Mine
Newcomers to California barely get their bags unpacked when someone, somewhere, starts griping about how the state is so big or its citizens so disagreeable that we ought to just crack it up into smaller pieces and go our own … Continue reading
Brown's Redevelopment Firestorm
Lost in the back-and-forth over Governor Jerry Brown's plan to shut down hundreds of local redevelopment agencies and funnel their property tax dollars elsewhere are a couple of pretty important questions: will the plan actually work? And is it driven … Continue reading
Give Me the Phones, Says Brown
Governor Jerry Brown has told as many as 48,000 state employees to hand in their cell phones, a cutback he estimates could cut $20 million in budget spending. While it's true that every little bit helps a state in as … Continue reading
Jerry's Team: New Top Aides
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Governor Jerry Brown started filling out the ranks of top staffers today, deciding to split the job of what used to be chief of staff, tapping all Democrats, and a former statewide official who made headlines for resigning 17 years … Continue reading
California's 2011 Political Watch List
In just a matter of hours, the calendars will flip and the champagne will bubble, and we'll all wonder what lies ahead in the year to come. But for those of us who watch California politics for a living, it's … Continue reading
Redistricting Panel: Glamorous, It Ain't
When an attorney suggested this morning that the men and women who will draw California's political maps could benefit from snuggling up some weekend with a copy of the state's open meetings law, you could feel the reality set in. … Continue reading
Schwarzenegger's Huzzah, Brown's Huddle
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A glitzy summit of a governor's environmental achievements. A somber discussion of his successor's challenges. Such was the contrast of the day spent by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown.
Brown, Whitman Lukewarm on Reform
California simply needs a strong leader to solve what's ailing it; that's the implicit message of both of the major candidates for governor. Trouble is, voters have heard the same assessment of the problems before… and yet the problems persist. … Continue reading
