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Poorest Americans Dealt Biggest Blow Under Senate Republican Tax Package

9 hours ago

Trump Vowed to Dismantle MS-13. His Deal With Bukele Threatens That Effort.

13 hours ago

Ukraine Voices Concern as US Halts Some Missile Shipments

13 hours ago

Poll: Most Americans Say National Divide, Political Violence Threaten Democracy

14 hours ago

Paramount Settles With Trump Over ‘60 Minutes’ Interview for $16 Million

14 hours ago

Republicans Tee up House Vote on Trump Bill, Outcome Uncertain

14 hours ago

What’s Next for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs After His Sex Trafficking Trial?

14 hours ago

Dalai Lama Says He Will Be Reincarnated, Trust Will Identify Successor

14 hours ago

Walters: Promises Made, but Not Kept

Last month, McClatchy Newspapers and the ProPublica news organization published an investigative article delving into how billions of dollars meant to reduce repeat criminal activity by improving local jails and probation services were siphoned off for other purposes. “Since 2011, California has sent more than $8 billion to counties to cover the costs of the massive...

Walters: Bait and Switch on Pensions

Local officials, particularly those in California’s 400-plus cities, have been complaining loudly in recent years about pension costs, raising the specter of insolvency if they continue their rapid increase. Last year, the League of California Cities issued a report declaring that “pension costs will dramatically increase to unsustainable levels.” The California Public...

Walters: Local Governments Are in Distress

California’s economy has been booming for most of this decade and has generated a cornucopia of tax revenues for state and local governments. The state has benefited most, because it collects income taxes. Californians’ taxable incomes have been soaring, especially for those atop the economic ladder, whose tax rates also...

Walters: Pension Costs Hitting Home — Hard

Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District came into being 14 years ago when four small fire departments serving farms and small towns east of Modesto merged. The district now flirts with insolvency, a case study in how rapidly growing costs for pensions and other employee benefits are clobbering local governments. Four...

Walters: New State Budget a Windfall for Unions

The state budget package Democratic legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom just enacted is sprinkled with billions of dollars in extra goodies for their most important political constituency, labor unions. Take, for example, Senate Bill 90, the budget’s omnibus education measure. It would allocate $3.1 billion to reduce mandatory payments that...

Walters: A New Front in Battle Over Gig Workers

One of the most contentious – and potentially far-reaching – bills of the current legislative session is Assembly Bill 5, which would draw a legal line between the definitions of employees and contractors. AB 5, carried by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, a San Diego Democrat, is an outgrowth of a state...

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