#cabudget

[lizzymayi]

Everyone pays lipservice to how important education is and blah blah blah but schools get their funding cut at the tiniest sign of economic downturn.  Politicians can never be trusted.  

[satsumy77]

♥️Advocate Passionately.  💡Inspire Hope.  🚸Trust our Leaders  To lead & do what is best for kids.  #CaAfterschoolWorks #SaveAfterschool #CALeg #CABudget #MayRevise #Education #ASES #ExpandedLearning #Afterschool #Childcare #CaliforniaForAll @EndChildPovCA @FightCrimeCA https://www.instagram.com/p/CAgSsrgAi1K78vQktDMDjFt-sJBDM_r7GoK1PA0/?igshid=16tntq89uxpj6

[jimr-drumr]

Cal's budget problems are pretty bad if they think a brand logo justifies 80% mark up #cabudget #ucberkeley #typical

[unitedstatescommonsense]

News Roundup for 1/9/2015

Your Top California Headlines for the week of January 5th to 9th, 2015

Economy: U.S. unemployment rate down to 5.6% in Dec, a 1.1% decrease year-over-year. 

Budget

California's soaring healthcare costs bode ill for the budget. 

Controller's Dec cash report shows revenues totaled $13.1b, 17.2% above budget estimates.

Brown: No State Funding Increase If UC Raises Tuition.

Drought

At end of year, California water use down 10%, but still short of governor’s goal.

Social

Owner of St. Louis Rams plans to build new stadium in Los Angeles, likely a $1 billion+ project.

Politics

Governor Jerry Brown inaugurates unprecedented 4th term as California’s governor, hints at main initiatives for 2015.

Senator Barbara Boxer announces she will not seek a 5th term. Here’s a list of possible successors.

Transit: California breaks ground on first leg of High Speed Rail project. 

Transparency

Federal audit shows California Public Utilities Commission’s 2-year backlog of unfinished investigations, poorly documented probes.  

Koch Brothers sue California ​to keep campaign donations secret.  

[unitedstatescommonsense]

News Roundup for 11/7/14

Election Results and California News Headlines for the Week of 11/3 to 11/7/14

Photo Credit: Columbia City Blog /Flickr CC

Budget:

Rainy Day Fund (Prop 2) passes, requiring CA to set aside a portion of the budget each year to pay down debt and save for low-revenue years. As a result, Standard and Poor’s upgrade California’s credit rating to A+.

Judge approves of Detroit Bankruptcy Plan, lets city resolve pension issues in confidential mediation.  

Corrections/Criminal Justice: Proposition 47 passes with 58.5% of the vote, making California the first state in the nation to downgrade drug possession to misdemeanor crime. Passage initiates a complex implementation process of releasing certain prisoners, reforming justice systems.

Education

After a $30 million race for the seat, incumbent State Superintendent Tom Torlakson keeps his post and promises continued reforms.    

UC seeks 5% tuition increases in each of the next five years, which would bring tuition in 2019 to $15,564. The UC faces major opposition from Governor Brown’s office, who tied increased state funds to UCs to tuition freezes.

10 teachers sue the California Teachers Association over mandatory annual dues

Healthcare

High opposition spending on Props 45 and 46 paid off at the polls:

59.7% of voters said no to health insurance rate regulation (prop 45).

67.2% of voters said no to drug testing for doctors and raising the cap on medical malpractice.

Politics

42% of likely voters did not know Jerry Brown was up for re-election

Voter turnout hit a record low on Tuesday: only 30% of registered voters cast ballots

Water:

The Water Bond (Prop 1) passes with 66.8% of the vote, adding $7.5 billion to water investment projects, opening up new questions on how to spend the money.  

2014 was the state’s hottest year on record. 

[cooleywatch-blog]

It's the State Budget Week

Remember a few years ago when the voters of this state passed proposition 25, which changed state law outlining the vote thresholds for passing the state budget from a 2/3rds vote to a simple majority in the Legislature?

June 15th marks the constitutional deadline for passage of the state budget in order for lawmakers to continue to receive their paychecks. It will be interesting to see what the final budget looks like. Most of the important pieces of the budget package are still being held behind closed doors and Assemblyman Ken Cooley has yet to make a single statement for or against the State Budget or shed any transparency on the issues being debated. We at CooleyWatch are still left to wonder how he feels about the State's finances and which way his vote will go for the Budget.

From the outside looking in, we know there are numerous funding priorities. We assume that funding for High-Speed Rail will make an appearance in the budget as will initial funding for healthcare programs that will be implementing the Affordable Care Act next year.

We hear at CooleyWatch will be very interested to know what Assemblyman Ken Cooley will do in the battle over money:

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) VS. California Teachers Association (CTA).

Let's not forget that voters approved Proposition 30 last year that, according to the Governor, would be used to "save education funding."

In the coming days Assemblyman Ken Cooley will have to pick a side in a battle involving two of his political allies. On one side of this conflict is the continuing dominance of state employee and healthcare unions seeking more benefits and money. On the other is the money trail in the classrooms. Should local districts decide what is best? Does giving money to teachers and teachers' retirement count as K-12 education spending increases? What will Assemblyman Cooley do?

Unfortunately...we don't know either...so I guess we will just have to wait and see...

[mirandaeveritt-blog]

Why we advocate

This post was originally published on Albany Patch on July 16, 2012.

The United States is the wealthiest nation in the world, with more than enough food for everyone. Then why do millions of children, seniors and working families worry about their next meal? Why does the Alameda County Community Food Bank provide food to 49,000 people each week? The simplest reason is poverty -- and how hard it often is to climb out of it. In the Bay Area, even two full-time jobs can be less than you need to make ends meet. Take Evangeline and Sean. They’re both working full-time, living modestly in a one-bedroom apartment with their two young children. They’ve applied for CalFresh benefits (aka food stamps), but sometimes, just an hour of overtime will mean their income is too high to qualify. They have to pay the rent. They have to keep their car in working order to get to their jobs. By then, their paychecks are gone. And yet, their children still need to eat. So they visit a food pantry in their neighborhood in Alameda. Evangeline is taking night classes, hoping to move up in her workplace and no longer rely on the food bank – something she couldn’t do if she had to worry about feeding her kids. Food banks are performing triage – helping people meet immediate nutritional needs. Government programs such as CalFresh (more commonly known as food stamps), WIC and school meals support working families, lessen poverty, and relieve pressure on food banks like ours facing unprecedented demand. During the long and deep recession, with millions still unemployed or underemployed, food banks have grown tremendously. Our Emergency Food Helpline call volume has grown 145% since the start of the recession in 2007. Yet the same forces that have so impacted our clients have also put our nutrition and safety-net programs under attack. Food banks and their donors and volunteers are often expected to fill the gap, while leaving an uncertain future for the programs meeting people’s most basic needs and helping them lift themselves out of poverty. Budgets balanced on the backs of working families, seniors and children will ensure that our communities struggle to thrive and grow. We can do better. That’s why the Alameda County Community Food Bank has taken the lead among food banks nationally in advocating for policies that will one day put us out of business. Our Community Advocates Against Hunger are volunteers, member agencies and clients on the front lines of hunger in our community. They bring real stories of people struggling with hunger to elected officials with legislative visits and direct action. Last year, the legislature passed and Gov. Brown signed every one of the bills we supported to strengthen our nutrition safety net. Access to healthy food is a basic human right – and all of us benefit when we work together for viable solutions. Yet vital programs are under attack. Right now, the House version of the Farm Bill – which would cut $90 a month from 500,000 households' emergency food budget, kick 3 million people off nutrition assistance entirely, and take free lunches away from 300,000 kids from low-income families. We'll provide the tools and resources. You provide the passion. Learn more about our advocacy work and join our team of advocates with updates on our Facebook page or at accfb.org.

[mirandaeveritt-blog]

[ARTICLE] Just one question for our legislators: What's our net worth?

This article appeared on Albany Patch on May 30, 2012, to promote Hunger Action Day, a lobby day for anti-hunger and anti-poverty organizations in California.

On May 17, 400 people gathered at the Capitol in Sacramento for Hunger Action Day, demanding that our legislators answer just one question: What’s our (safety) net worth? Hunger Action Day is the only day when California’s capital is filled with people from grassroots groups fighting for an end to poverty and hunger. Gov. Jerry Brown proposes drastic cuts to our safety-net programs, trying again to balance the California budget without revenues. And just hours before Hunger Action Day, the newly revised budget was released, including $2 billion in cuts to health and human services. At a February hearing in Sacramento, mothers and fathers, voices shaking, publicly contemplated the meaning of these cuts for their children — often, their next and only option is homelessness and hunger. On Hunger Action Day, we stood with them again. Our advocates were the first in Sacramento to show up and stand against this budget, sharing stories face-to-face with 17 legislators from up and down the state — and on both sides of the aisle. This year, more than 100 people came with the Alameda County Communtiy Food Bank, representing more than a quarter of all who attended. "I’m here because I want Californians to be able to build themselves a future,” said Celeste Grainger, an advocate from Fremont. “I want legislators to know that Californians matter.” Our clients, staff, volunteers and advocates surrounded the Capitol at noon to show we won’t stand for these cuts. Legislators don’t have to either. They now have until June 15 to pass a balanced budget — or lose pay for each day it’s late. After three years and $15 billion in cuts to vital social programs, it is unconscionable to shred the safety net even further. In November, Californians will consider new revenues that will help shore up our social safety net, put Californians back to work, keep us healthy, and turn our economy around. The Food Bank fights to protect all parts of the safety net, which so many of our clients rely on. While rent can’t wait, an empty stomach can — for a little while. Cuts to the safety net mean more hunger, and more demand. Join our Online Advocacy Team. Make your voice heard: no one should go hungry!