CALIFORNIA SOAKS ITS RESIDENTS

Good morning!

It’s Friday and that means it’s time for your favorite newsletter of the week, from California Policy Center!

Recently, the Sacramento Bee revealed that median pension costs for local governments grew nearly six times as fast in California as the rest of the country between 2007 and 2016. During that same period, the Orange County Register reported last Monday, the number of public retirees in the $100K club saw a 13-fold increase. 

According to a recent poll, a growing number of teachers are unhappy with their jobs. The Washington Post claimed that “the poll shows widespread frustration among teachers over pay and respect.” Although surveyors collected a lot of data, CPC contributor Larry Sand notes that much of it was both biased and meaningless. Click here to read Larry’s review of the poll.

The rising cost of providing generous benefits to public employees continues to burden California taxpayers. With unfunded liabilities increasingly crowding out services, local elected officials are forced to either raise taxes or cut services, thus making everything worse. While some throw up their hands in despair, California Policy Center is creating a path to meaningful reform. CPC fellow Edward Ring breaks down the latest development in George Luke v. Sonoma County, a case in which we argue that government officials failed to notify the public of the real costs of benefit increases to employees as required by Government Code Section 7507. Click here for Ed’s analysis. 

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) wrapped up its cross-country Tax the Rich Bus Tour after 35 days. Decrying corporations and the rich, AFT leader Randi Weingarten and other teacher’s union leaders once again called on wealthy Americans to pay their “fair share.” However, as Larry Sand points out, the rich pay much more than their “fair share” in taxes. This week, Larry discusses the many fallacies being employed by the teacher’s unions going into the 2019-2020 term. Click here to read more.

Like many municipalities across the state, the Northern California city of Richmond is struggling to decide where to trim the fat. However, their financial problems are just beginning. Edward Ring writes, “Using projections provided by CalPERS for the City of Richmond, that city’s pension contribution is going to rise from $31 million in the fiscal year just ended to over $49 million by 2024. And that’s the low number. If the market 'corrects,' Richmond will have to throw even more money into CalPERS’s insatiable maw.” Click here to read the full article.

Reminder, this is your final week to enter our Prop 65 contest before we pick the big winner. We’ll let you know how you can vote on the year’s best example of the state’s dumbest warning! In case you forgot, Prop 65 requires the cancer warnings so widespread that Californians know it’s best to ignore them. This week’s winner reminds us to be careful what we play with. Click here to see the winning photo.

Upcoming Events:

Justice Neil Gorsuch at the Reagan Library
The Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute will be hosting Associate Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch on Tuesday, September 10, 2019. Tickets to this event are $65 per person and includes a buffet dinner in the Air Force One Pavilion following the program. For more information, and to register for the event, click here.

Book talk with General Mattis
Former Defense Secretary and four-star Marine General James Mattis will be visiting the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum to talk about his memoir, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead, on Friday, September 13, 2019. Gen. Mattis will have a conversation with Nixon Foundation President and CEO Hugh Hewitt about his incredible career, from leading troops into battle in three wars to commanding American forces across the Middle East as head of CENTCOM. For more information and to register for the event, click here.

As always, if you’d like to join our movement to save California, we invite you to support us. Click here to donate to CPC.