Kersten Communications

PG&E has qualified Proposition 16 for the June 2010 ballot that uses the initiative process to do exactly the opposite of what it was designed to do.

The California Legislature enacted the modern day initiative process in 1911 as part of a package of reforms that were designed to protect the people of California from the unchecked power of a major corporation.  

Prop. 16, titled the “The Taxpayers… Read More...

The U.S. Congress passed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) last February to jump start the economy and help create and retain jobs but only 35% or $17.6 billion of the estimated $85 billion that California is expected to receive has been spent to date.   

California has received approximately $32.7 billion of the estimated $85 billion in ARRA benefits that will eventually be allocated… Read More...

The California Secretary of State has qualified five ballot measures for the state’s June 2010 ballot.  The water bond will appear on the November 2010 ballot, along with other initiatives which are likely to qualify in the coming months.  The following is a summary of the measures complete with their fiscal impact, proponent and opponent arguments, and political committee spending to date.    

Proposition 13: Technical, Non-Controversial Property-Tax

KC Fiscal Focus has produced a brief guide that is intended to help policy makers and community members search for how American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding has been used in their community. 

Specifically, this guide provides instruction on how to search the internet for ARRA funds and projects by county, search for the largest fund recipients, and search by zip codes.

To search ARRA funded projects… Read More...

A budget forum hosted by the Public Policy Institute of California in late January illustrated that the partisan divide over the California State budget is likely getting worse, as opposed to better, and that this year’s budget standoff promises to be at least as contentious as previous years if not more so. 

The event, titled “2010 Budget Debate,” held at the downtown Sheraton Hotel on January 28th included a… Read More...

A recent public opinion poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found that the vast majority of the public lacks a very basic understanding of how the State of California raises and spends its money, however, 72% of Californians believe that they—not their political leaders—should make reform decisions at the ballot box.

To illustrate, only 16% of California residents correctly identified K-12 education as representing the area of… Read More...

To help cope with the state’s impending cash crunch, the California Department of Finance (DOF) has proposed controversial trailer bill language that would give the DOF complete discretion to defer payments to state programs, vendors and taxpayers including payments to California taxpayers for tax refunds, the University of California, Medi-Cal payments to providers, SSI/SSP welfare payments, CalWORKs welfare payments, K-12 education and more. 

The trailer bill language was submitted to Legislative Counsel last week and presented… Read More...

Yesterday Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D) and the Senate Democratic Caucus introduced a 27 bill package to help create an estimated 140,000 jobs for Californians.  Below is a summary of the jobs package released yesterday by the Pro Tem’s press office.  Click here for a summary of the fact sheets for each bill.  For additional information visit the website for the package, titled “Agenda 2010″, by clicking here.   

SENATE DEMOCRATS INTRODUCE… Read More...