With expenditures totaling $2.5 trillion, or $7,500 per person, the United States consumes more health care than any other country in the world. The...
No Budget, No Pay: Congress rarely passes spending bills on time, which makes it virtually impossible for members to intelligently consider why they...
Spending on health care in the United States is facing unprecedented public scrutiny. Cast into the spotlight by the intense debate that surrounded the...
The Governor presented a 12–point plan to change pension and retiree health benefits for California’s state and local government workers on October 27, 2011....
The pension reform plan I am proposing will apply to all California state, local, school and other public employers, new public employees, and current...
Californians are poised once again to revisit term limits. Adopted by ballot initiative in 1990, California’s term limits are among the strictest in the...
California’s ongoing budget crises have prompted a serious evaluation of the state’s revenue system. The state’s revenue is more volatile than that in other...
Governor Jerry Brown sparked renewed interest in the relationship between state and local government with his January 2011 budget proposal, which called for shifting...
California’s pension plans are dangerously underfunded, the result of overly generous benefit promises, wishful thinking and an unwillingness to plan prudently. Unless aggressive reforms...
In April, SIEPR issued Going for Broke: Reforming California’s Public Employee Pension Systems. That policy brief identified the funding shortfall for three state pension...
California state government faces a changing political and economic environment marked by reduced resources, competing priorities and an increased public demand for accountability –...
States, provinces, cities, and many nations around the globe are facing an existential threat in the form of a massive fiscal imbalance between expected...
The February 2009 state budget agreement changed the apportionment formula used to determine California taxable income for firms that also operate in other states....
In June 2010, Californians will vote on a ballot measure that, if adopted, will fundamentally change the way California elects state and congressional officials.
CalPERS, CalSTRS, and UCRS1 together administer the pensions of approximately 2.6 million Californians. Between June 2008 and June 2009, these three public pension funds...
Below, we divide these liabilities into three categories:
Budget-Related Liabilities. These include actions taken by the state that have resulted in future budgetary obligations.
Infrastructure-Related Liabilities....
Revenue reform can be a tricky topic for public dialogue. Many community conversations about taxes, especially if they include a mix of previously unaffiliated...
California is a state of many distinct regions. To give citizens a voice on regional issues and to reinvigorate California’s Legislature, the state’s central...
California’s ballot initiative process has become a major catalyst of reform in the state and the leading example of direct democracy in the nation....
Common sense says that the learning needs of students should come first, whether it’s making policy or teaching math. California’s diverse student population cannot...
If our set of studies has one overarching conclusion, it is simply this — California’s school finance and governance system are fundamentally flawed. Consequently,...
Few jobs are more important than those entrusted to state government. Public employees are responsible for safeguarding food and water, ensuring educational and work...
In Chapter 94, Statutes of 1999 (AB 676, Brewer), the Legislature declared the existing property tax allocation system to be “serious flawed” and stated...
Throughout the world, California symbolizes success, achievement, and prosperity. We are the incubator of Tmany of today’s leading industries, including entertainment, aerospace, computer and...
The three sets of consequences identified in this paper (fiscalization of land use, development of arcane finance techniques, and the increase of state control...
California citizens receive government services from a variety of federal, state, and local agencies. Although many of these services may appear to be provided...
