June 1, 2011, 12:05 AM
Calling the move "long overdue," Gov. Jerry Brown yesterday ordered more than 400 administrative positions permanently cut at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation – a move the governor's office said would save taxpayers $30 million. Brown said that...
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May 27, 2011, 12:05 AM
A $4.5 billion experiment intended to give schools greater flexibility over state education dollars has resulted in cutbacks in some programs targeting students who need the most academic help. That is among the findings of a report issued this week by the RAND Corporation and Policy...
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May 20, 2011, 12:05 AM
When Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled his revised budget Monday, he sent a mixed message to First 5 commissions throughout the state: On one hand, the budget would no longer include taking $1 billion from them. On the other, the state would still pursue those funds. Any relief commissions felt...
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May 20, 2011, 12:05 AM
Deep in Gov. Jerry Brown's May revision of his January budget is a possible solution to a major conflict over funding mental health services for special education students. Brown this week proposed that schools, not counties, be responsible for paying for mental health services,...
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May 19, 2011, 12:05 AM
A proposal to eliminate the California Postsecondary Education Commission would significantly impact the state's ability to protect its investment in public higher education, according to a state analyst. The policy and planning agency for the state's public colleges and universities...
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May 17, 2011, 12:05 AM
Gov. Jerry Brown says he can save taxpayers millions by downsizing government. Just don’t expect to get the state budget balanced on the back of the California Commercial Sea Urchin Advisory Committee, one of 43 boards, commissions and other entities targeted for elimination in the...
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May 5, 2011, 12:05 AM
A team of advocacy groups is pushing Gov. Jerry Brown to include sentencing reforms in the revised state budget proposal he will unveil this month. The three organizations – the American Civil Liberties Union of California, the Drug Policy Alliance and the Ella Baker Center for Human...
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April 28, 2011, 12:05 AM
Fear of teacher layoffs and other cuts to public schools is leading a majority of Californians to support some combination of spending cuts and taxes in order to close the state's $26 billion budget gap, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll released today. A majority...
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April 15, 2011, 12:05 AM
Full professors at Stanford University make on average $39,000 more than their counterparts at UC Berkeley, reinforcing fears about UC's ability to recruit and retain top professors in the face of deep reductions in state support. A full professor at UC Berkeley makes an average of...
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April 11, 2011, 8:30 AM
A bill aiming to make it safer to get inked up in California has been introduced for the third time. Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger twice vetoed Assemblywoman Fiona Ma’s proposal to implement new regulations for tattoo parlors, calling them unnecessary. Ma introduced a new bill, AB...
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April 6, 2011, 12:05 AM
Fresno County’s jail has whole floors of empty cells. When AB 109 takes effect, moving tens of thousands of inmates from state prisons to local facilities, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said her office has plenty of bed space to accommodate. But Mims and California’s...
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March 31, 2011, 12:51 AM
In the end, it was old-fashioned partisanship and legislative gridlock that seems to have doomed Gov. Jerry Brown's so-called "Plan A" for solving the state's budget crisis. The governor called off negotiations with Republicans earlier this week after the two sides reached a...
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March 24, 2011, 12:05 AM
More than eight in 10 Californians agree that the state's budget presents a serious looming problem, but fewer than half believe Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed tax extensions are the right way to fix it, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll released Wednesday night. ...
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March 23, 2011, 4:37 PM
Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature have agreed to keep open some state youth correctional facilities, taking some of the gloss off his vision of "bringing government closer to the people." Hear more on a KQED/California Watch radio report aired on The California Report...
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March 17, 2011, 12:05 AM
As legislators begin voting on elements of Gov. Jerry Brown’s half-taxes, half-cuts budget proposal, it has quickly become clear both to decision-makers and those of us watching at home that bipartisanship under the Capitol dome is no easy feat to achieve. In fact, given the voting...
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