State Budget
Blog
What can Californians expect from state lawmakers in 2025?
Here are 5 things to watch for as the Legislature Reconvenes
The Trump effect Fresh off a decisive re-election victory, President-elect Donald Trump is dominating U.S. politics. Surprisingly, he is also dominating California politics despite the fact that he is broadly unpopular in the state – though much less so than his first term as evidenced by his gaining nearly 5 ...
Blog
Spending Watch
While National Economic Performance Has Supported State Revenue Growth, Greater Spending Restraint Is Still Required
While National Economic Performance Has Supported State Revenue Growth, Greater Spending Restraint Is Still Required Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal November 2024 Three months into the 2024-25 fiscal year, state revenues are outperforming lowered expectations. Should these trends continue, the FY2025-26 budget process may avoid the crushing deficit problem that ...
California
Steven Greenhut – End of Session 2024 Wrap-Up
Free Cities Center director and longtime Sacramento journalist Steven Greenhut joins us for a review of the just-completed 2024 legislative session. We break down the year’s hottest legislative debates, including retail theft, the state budget, insurance reform, tech policy, and more. We also discuss Gov. Newsom’s dwindling influence over lawmakers ...
Blog
Spending Watch
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending Wayne Winegarden August 2024 Including federal, state, and local funds, California’s per capita spending on income support programs is 81 percent higher than the average expenditures for all other states – per capita spending of $3,869 compared to $2,141. These expenditures include “cash ...
Blog
The Prop 47 Budgetary Shell Game – Who you Gonna Believe? Them, or your Lying Eyes?
In 2014, Californians voted overwhelmingly to pass Proposition 47, known by its supporters title the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.” Prop 47’s advocates made a strong case, promising that both crime and incarceration rates would decline. At the same time, supporters argued that “massive” savings from ending the practice of ...
Blog
Read the latest on California's homeless crisis
Newsom’s Veto a Strange Way to Show Support for “Transparency and Accountability”
Assembly Bill 2570, by Asm. Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, would have required state officials to prepare an annual audit evaluating the effectiveness of the state’s primary homeless grant program – the Homeless, Housing, Assistance and Prevention program. The bill would require the audit to be included in an annual report department ...
Blog
Patronage or problem solving? San Fran debates its proliferation of iffy commissions
Patronage or problem solving? San Fran debates its proliferation of iffy commissions Matthew Fleming | July 18, 2024 History of SF’s myriad commissions The first 21 commissions were founded in 1898 with the city and county charter, but the list has ballooned to 115 today for the city of around ...
California
Chris Micheli – Is the Legislative Process Fueling Grassroots Activism or Acting as a Roadblock to Reform?
Longtime Sacramento lobbyist and law school professor Chris Micheli joins us to discuss his new book, The Complete Practical Guide to California Government. They discuss areas of state government that need reform, recent controversies over the use of non-disclosure agreements in the legislative process and whether efforts to enact tax ...
Blog
Spending Watch
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending Wayne Winegarden July 2024 It should not shock anyone that the FY2024-25 budget was short on fiscal discipline and long on budget gimmicks and fund shifts. Now that this year’s budget process is coming to an end, it is imperative ...
Blog
Is California leaving a large amount of tax revenue on the table?
Flavored Tobacco Prohibition Bans Tax Revenues Not Products
Examining state tax revenues and the volume of legal cigarette sales, it appears that the ban has caused cigarette use to decline. As Figure 1 illustrates, the decline in tax paid cigarette sales accelerated in 2023 following the implementation of the ban. Lost sales translate into lost tax revenues for ...
What can Californians expect from state lawmakers in 2025?
Here are 5 things to watch for as the Legislature Reconvenes
The Trump effect Fresh off a decisive re-election victory, President-elect Donald Trump is dominating U.S. politics. Surprisingly, he is also dominating California politics despite the fact that he is broadly unpopular in the state – though much less so than his first term as evidenced by his gaining nearly 5 ...
Spending Watch
While National Economic Performance Has Supported State Revenue Growth, Greater Spending Restraint Is Still Required
While National Economic Performance Has Supported State Revenue Growth, Greater Spending Restraint Is Still Required Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal November 2024 Three months into the 2024-25 fiscal year, state revenues are outperforming lowered expectations. Should these trends continue, the FY2025-26 budget process may avoid the crushing deficit problem that ...
Steven Greenhut – End of Session 2024 Wrap-Up
Free Cities Center director and longtime Sacramento journalist Steven Greenhut joins us for a review of the just-completed 2024 legislative session. We break down the year’s hottest legislative debates, including retail theft, the state budget, insurance reform, tech policy, and more. We also discuss Gov. Newsom’s dwindling influence over lawmakers ...
Spending Watch
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending Wayne Winegarden August 2024 Including federal, state, and local funds, California’s per capita spending on income support programs is 81 percent higher than the average expenditures for all other states – per capita spending of $3,869 compared to $2,141. These expenditures include “cash ...
The Prop 47 Budgetary Shell Game – Who you Gonna Believe? Them, or your Lying Eyes?
In 2014, Californians voted overwhelmingly to pass Proposition 47, known by its supporters title the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.” Prop 47’s advocates made a strong case, promising that both crime and incarceration rates would decline. At the same time, supporters argued that “massive” savings from ending the practice of ...
Read the latest on California's homeless crisis
Newsom’s Veto a Strange Way to Show Support for “Transparency and Accountability”
Assembly Bill 2570, by Asm. Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, would have required state officials to prepare an annual audit evaluating the effectiveness of the state’s primary homeless grant program – the Homeless, Housing, Assistance and Prevention program. The bill would require the audit to be included in an annual report department ...
Patronage or problem solving? San Fran debates its proliferation of iffy commissions
Patronage or problem solving? San Fran debates its proliferation of iffy commissions Matthew Fleming | July 18, 2024 History of SF’s myriad commissions The first 21 commissions were founded in 1898 with the city and county charter, but the list has ballooned to 115 today for the city of around ...
Chris Micheli – Is the Legislative Process Fueling Grassroots Activism or Acting as a Roadblock to Reform?
Longtime Sacramento lobbyist and law school professor Chris Micheli joins us to discuss his new book, The Complete Practical Guide to California Government. They discuss areas of state government that need reform, recent controversies over the use of non-disclosure agreements in the legislative process and whether efforts to enact tax ...
Spending Watch
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending Wayne Winegarden July 2024 It should not shock anyone that the FY2024-25 budget was short on fiscal discipline and long on budget gimmicks and fund shifts. Now that this year’s budget process is coming to an end, it is imperative ...
Is California leaving a large amount of tax revenue on the table?
Flavored Tobacco Prohibition Bans Tax Revenues Not Products
Examining state tax revenues and the volume of legal cigarette sales, it appears that the ban has caused cigarette use to decline. As Figure 1 illustrates, the decline in tax paid cigarette sales accelerated in 2023 following the implementation of the ban. Lost sales translate into lost tax revenues for ...
