By Phillip Reese -
Published: 12:00 am
Murderers are more likely to be sentenced to death in conservative California counties, particularly in the southern part of the state, according to a Bee analysis of recent data from the state attorney general's office.
By Jim Sanders -
Published: 12:00 am
With California's budget gap growing by millions each day, Thursday marked a roller coaster of Capitol emotion that veered from optimism about prospects for a deal to eruption of a new fight over school funding.
By Dan Walters -
Published: 12:00 am
Remember the Arnold Schwarzenegger who, exactly five years ago, denounced state legislators as "girlie men" beholden to unions because they failed to pass a state budget? He's back, sensing that time is running out on his 2003 campaign promise to stop "crazy deficit spending."
By Dale Kasler -
Published: Thursday, July 2 2009 - 12:00 am
California's budget crisis is turning into a worldwide spectacle that could harm the state's business climate and chase companies away.
By Jon Ortiz -
Updated: Thursday, July 2 2009 - 8:14 am
Budget cuts have torn chunks off many state workers' paychecks, but other government employees so far have been financially unscathed.
By Andrew McIntosh -
Published: Thursday, July 2 2009 - 12:00 am
A California financial company on Wednesday agreed to repay $2 million to New York state's giant public pension fund after one of the company's former partners was implicated in paying a kickback to secure investment deals from the fund.
Published: Thursday, July 2 2009 - 12:00 am
"No excuses, but there are clear reasons why the budget isn't done yet. We are living through a historic economic crisis that has resulted in people and government having less money. Since I began as leader of the Senate, the combined budget deficit has amounted to almost $60 billion. This fiscal reality, combined with the extraordinary two-thirds requirement to pass a budget, is the reason the job is not done yet."
Published: Thursday, July 2 2009 - 12:00 am
Day one of the 2009-10 fiscal year brought no agreement on a plan to close what is now estimated to be a $26.3 billion state budget deficit. Here are some of Wednesday's key developments:
By Susan Ferriss -
Updated: Wednesday, July 1 2009 - 8:23 am
As legislators battled over the state budget Tuesday, an independent commission voted to slash lawmakers' per-diem payments, car allowances and medical and other fringe benefits by 18 percent.
By Dale Kasler and Robert Lewis -
Updated: Tuesday, June 30 2009 - 1:10 pm
With the state poised to issue billions in IOUs in lieu of cash this week, California's budget crisis could create serious headaches for some private vendors and local governments.
By Steve Wiegand and Jim Sanders -
Published: Monday, June 29 2009 - 12:00 am
Democratic legislators trotted out a stick-and-carrot approach to closing the state's budget gap Sunday night, negotiating with the governor on one floor of the Capitol while voting for a package of cuts and taxes on another.
By Pamela Martineau -
Published: Sunday, June 28 2009 - 12:00 am
They think of themselves as street-theater activists who are willing to get in the face of the powers-that-be to bring equity to the state's school funding system.
By Dan Walters -
Published: Sunday, June 28 2009 - 12:00 am
Perhaps the most enduring political debate in California right up there with water is whether the state's periodic plunges into economic recession are caused by circumstances beyond its control or a self- inflicted malady.
Published: Saturday, June 27 2009 - 12:00 am
The California Lottery Commission Friday approved plans to award a $53.7 million contract to Otto Construction to build a new six-story 155,500-square-foot home for the commission on Richards Boulevard in Sacramento. The lottery is financed by gamblers, not the state's deficit-ridden general fund, and officials said the current building is literally sinking.
By Susan Ferriss -
Updated: Saturday, June 27 2009 - 9:44 am
There's at least the appearance of one bipartisan agreement in California's divided state Senate.
By Kevin Yamamura -
Updated: Friday, June 26 2009 - 7:41 am
A federal judge on Thursday blocked a $2 hourly wage cut for California in-home care workers that was slated to begin July 1, potentially increasing California's budget deficit by another $98 million.
By Dan Walters -
Published: Friday, June 26 2009 - 12:00 am
On June 10, the Public Policy Institute of California issued a report that was highly critical of California's "enterprise zone" program that gives tax breaks and other economic incentives for employers to establish new facilities in areas of high unemployment.
By Andy Furillo -
Published: Friday, June 26 2009 - 12:00 am
In saying Thursday that fiscal times are not right to spend $1.9 billion on long-term health care beds for prisoners, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration has put itself on track for a new head-on collision with the federal courts.
By Jim Wasserman -
Published: Thursday, June 25 2009 - 12:00 am
California, which has lost 800,000 jobs in this recession, will lose 200,000 more before it ends late this year, University of the Pacific forecasters said Wednesday in Stockton.
By Jim Downing -
Published: Thursday, June 25 2009 - 12:00 am
Whether the state budget mess ends with more cuts or more taxes, the economy won't know the difference at least in the short run, economists say.
By Jon Ortiz -
Updated: Sunday, June 28 2009 - 10:04 am
Tactics some state employee unions have deployed to counter talk about whacking the budget:
By Dan Walters -
Published: Wednesday, June 24 2009 - 12:00 am
As the Legislature's Democratic leaders unveiled their new and, they say, improved version of the deficit- ridden state budget last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sharply criticized its reliance on new taxes and "one-time solutions" that don't solve the fundamental imbalance.
Published: Wednesday, June 24 2009 - 12:00 am
The state Senate unanimously approved a bill designed to preserve auto dealerships in California.
By Peter Hecht -
Published: Tuesday, June 23 2009 - 12:00 am
He was the swaggering prince of America's second largest city, a Latino political icon and a long-rumored gubernatorial candidate.
By Steve Wiegand -
Updated: Tuesday, June 23 2009 - 9:02 am
This is usually the time of year when state legislators begin sparring in earnest over the adoption of a new state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
By Phillip Reese and Chelsea Phua -
Published: Sunday, June 21 2009 - 12:00 am
A long-simmering investigation into alleged misuse of public funds at a major California workers' compensation insurer has reportedly escalated to search warrants, issued Friday, on property of several of its former executives.
By Dan Walters -
Published: Sunday, June 21 2009 - 12:00 am
The politicians who are fashioning or not fashioning a new state budget often spout economic theories as the bases for their actions.