jeffson's blog

By Dan Aiello

Nearly 50 high school students from communities throughout California came to Sacramento last week to lobby state legislators in support of two bills aimed at protecting students from extreme or unjust discipline policies.

From Crescent City to San Ysidro, Half Moon Bay to Truckee, students gathered for a morning rally on the north steps of the Capitol before meeting with lawmakers and their staff as part of the April 30 Queer Youth Advocacy Day.

Encouraging them to engage lawmakers, students heard firsthand the personal stories of out state legislators and fellow students advocating for AB 1729, Creating Alternatives to Suspension and Expulsion, and AB 2242, Reducing Out of School Suspensions for Minor Infractions that was authored by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento).

By Donald Cohen 

The SEC is dragging its feet implementing a section of the Dodd-Frank reform that would require publicly traded companies to calculate the ratio between the CEO’s pay and that of the firm’s median pay package. The New York Times editorial board urges them to push forward.

Corporate lobbyists say it’s too complicated to figure out the math. They figured out how to create uber-complex financial products that untangled the global economy, but aren’t able to divide the CEO’s earnings (they must know) by the median employee pay?

Of course, the real reason they oppose the law is that they don’t want to add fire to the public debate about excessive CEO salaries – certainly while the rest of America struggles to pay bills, put kids through college and afford mortgage payments. Obscurity, not transparency, benefits the privileged.

By Art Pulaski, California Labor Foundation

For every cut the state is asking seniors, those with disabilities, workers and low-income Californians to absorb in the May Revise, there’s a wasteful corporate tax break that’s draining much-needed revenue. The cuts proposed today aren’t borne of necessity; they’re the result of a failed system that protects tax giveaways for the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of California’s most vulnerable. That’s inexcusable.

It’s clear that budget stability can’t be achieved without additional revenue. Voters must approve Gov. Brown’s revenue initiative this fall to stave off even more devastating cuts to schools and public safety. But to create long-term stability, the state has to eliminate the maze of loopholes, carve-outs and tax-dodges that corporate lobbyists have written into law over the years, many through backroom deals as leverage in previous budget negotiations.

By Duane Campbell

The proposed California budget for next year says that income will be $15.7 billion less than available revenue.   

The report is here: http://www.dof.ca.gov/documents/2012-13_May_Revision.pdf

California does not have enough money to continue the funding of schools, universities, fire and safety, and social services. The Republican Party has consistently refused to raise taxes to pay for these services. So, the Republican legislature is forcing the following cuts: MediCal, child care, Cal Works, Nursing homes, In Home Supportive Services, Cal Grants ( college tuition), and a forced employee pay cuts (5%) – such as a 4 day work week. These cuts are from the 2012 budget.

Yesterday's May Revision provides level funding for k-12 schools, however if the  Governor’s tax proposals are not passed in November, there will be an additional $5.6 billion dollars  cut from  K-12 schools. These are called trigger cuts. They will be automatic if the  tax initiative is not passed.

By David Dayen, Firedoglake

Over the weekend, California Governor Jerry Brown announced that the budget deficit for the next fiscal year has nearly doubled, from $9.2 billion to $16 billion. This almost assuredly means a commensurate increase in cuts to the state budget.

In the last fiscal year, Brown staved off a series of budget cuts by playing a game of “ta-da.” He assumed a fiscal bump from an improving economy of well over $4 billion, and used that windfall to plug the budget. That money never actually materialized, and indeed many were skeptical it ever would at the time. This bought a year to save the budget from key cuts, particularly in health care and education.

By Marty Omoto, California Disability Community Action Network

California’s budget deficit has swelled to a staggering $16 billion from the $9 billion it was projected in January, according to Governor Jerry Brown today, warning that the growing budget hole will mean that “…we will have to go much further and make cuts far greater than I asked at the beginning of the year.”  The Democratic Governor blamed a combination of a slow economic recovery that has result in lower than hoped for tax receipts and because of “…the federal government and the courts have blocked us from making billions in necessary budget reductions.” 

By Peter Schrag

You don’t have to look far to understand why California, like many other states, wants a waiver from key provisions of NCLB, the ten-year-old federal No Child Left Behind law. If we don’t get it, it may start to cost us.

But what California wants is unique. We want not only a waiver but also a waiver from the conditions U.S Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has imposed for getting a waiver. Is that reasonable, or is it chutzpah?

From the start, the federal law’s impossible requirement that all American schoolchildren make “adequate yearly progress” (AYP) toward academic perfection in 2014 – even children who began school speaking no English -- was an invitation to fraud, confusion and demoralization.

By Dan Bacher

Governor Jerry Brown announced on Thursday the appointment of Felicia Marcus and Steven Moore to the State Water Resources Control Board and the reappointment of Charles Hoppin as the Board's Chair.

Felicia Marcus, 56, of Emeryville, has been western director at the Natural Resources Defense Council since 2008 and was executive vice president and chief operating officer at the Trust for Public Land from 2001 to 2008. She served as the administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 from 1993 to 2001.

Marcus was a commissioner on the City of Los Angeles Board of Public Works from 1989 to 1993 and served as president of the Board from 1991 to 1993. She has been a member of the Delta Stewardship Council since 2010.

This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $128,109. Marcus is a Democrat.

SACRAMENTO – In this Democratic weekly radio address, Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) praises President Barack Obama for announcing his support for marriage equality. Speaker Pérez, the first openly gay person to be elected to the position of Assembly Speaker in the country, said Obama’s remarks were a historic milestone for the LGBT community and for equality in the United States. President Obama made the announcement on Wednesday, becoming the first sitting president to support marriage equality. 

By David Atkins

Remember Jason Hodge, the corporate-backed Democrat running for California's 19th Senate District who "doesn't think you need higher taxes", running against progressive Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson?

Well, I just got a nice big glossy mailer from an organization called the California Senior Advocates League, saying that Jason Hodge would be the Democrat most capable of defeating the Republicans and calling Hannah-Beth Jackson the derogatory nickname "Taxin' Jackson."

What is the California Senior Advocates League? Well, it's a group that only seems to exist come election time. It runs a now-defunct blog called the Silver Dog Blog, whose latest post trashes the Affordable Care Act. And its funders? Mostly the San Diego and California Republican Parties, big oil and pharmaceutical interests. Most recently it received $20,000 from something called JobsPAC. And who funds JobsPAC? Mostly Philip Morris, Chevron, Anheuser-Busch, Anthem Blue Cross, PG&E and a host of similar companies and institutions.