New Ideas for California's Future
From The Sacramento Bee:
CalPERS was sued Tuesday over the big rate hikes it imposed on its long-term care insurance program, which covers stays in nursing homes.
The class-action suit was filed by a Los Angeles law firm on behalf of more than 100,000 CalPERS members who have purchased the coverage and now face big rate increases.
From The LA Times:
More than three decades ago, 53 cents of every dollar Californians spent generated sales tax revenue for the state.
It’s been a long slide since then, dropping to only 33 cents last year.
Even though the sales tax remains Sacramento’s second-biggest source of revenue, it’s grown much more slowly over the years.
From Sac Bee:
California is more heavily invested in the federal Affordable Care Act than any other state because it has, by far, the nation’s largest number of medically uninsured residents and has embraced the law more fully than any other state.
We are, in brief, the test subjects to determine whether the sweeping act can work nationally or is fatally flawed.
From SJ Mercury News:
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of leading business groups and GOP donors called for action on immigration legislation Tuesday, seeking to increase pressure on the House GOP as lawmakers prepare to leave Washington for a five-week summer recess.
Two letters were released separately, one signed by more than 400 leading businesses, chambers of commerce and others, and the second by about 100 GOP donors, including boldface names such as former Vice President Dan Quayle and GOP strategist Karl Rove.
From News 10:
There’s no better quip for those outraged over campaign chicanery than the one uttered by Captain Renault in the 1942 classic, Casablanca.
“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here,” Renault tells Rick, just before he pockets his own gambling winnings.
It’s a fair reaction to those expressing outrage about political sneakiness in the brewing campaign to force a public vote on a new downtown sports arena in Sacramento.
From Sac Bee:
California will spend $232.9 billion during the 2013-14 fiscal year if the recently enacted state budget is precisely followed.
But the total, outlined in a followup report by the Legislature’s budget analyst, Mac Taylor, is only an educated guess, and if past patterns hold true the real levels of income and outgo will be billions of dollars different.
