SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a $213 billion state budget Thursday that boosts spending on K-12 education, wildfires and homelessness while putting more money toward state reserves and debt. The revised budget is up $4.5 billion from his first proposal in January and maintains a $21.5 billion surplus, the...
US Consumer Spending Posts Big Gains
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer spending surged 0.9% in March, the biggest gain in nearly a decade, as inflation pressures remain non-existent. The March gain was the biggest monthly increase since August 2009, the Commerce Department reported Monday. That's a marked improvement after three months of lackluster readings in this key...
Trump’s Record $4.7 Trillion Budget Relies on Strong Growth
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump proposed a record $4.7 trillion federal budget for 2020 on Monday, relying on optimistic 3.1 percent economic growth projections alongside accounting shuffles and steep domestic cuts to bring future spending into promised balance in 15 years. The deficit is projected to hit $1.1 trillion in...
Jerry Brown: Cal Democrats Likely Will Overspend
SACRAMENTO — Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown helped make his party even more powerful in California during the last eight years and now, less than a month before leaving office, he predicts that dominance will make it difficult for his successor to control Democrats' hunger for spending and regulations. The leader...
Can California Afford Newsom's Vision for Schools? Here's Your K-12 Primer.
Early childhood education. A top-tier national ranking for K-12 per-pupil spending. A data system that would track kids from nursery school through state universities. California’s Legislature won’t reconvene until 2019, but the Christmas wish list for public schools  is already long and pricey. On the first day of session, Democratic lawmakers...
Bullet Train Sets Speed Record . . . For Burning Through Cash
Long before it's done, California's bullet train project is setting speed records. Not land speed records, mind you. Spending records. Ralph Vartabedian, the high-speed rail watchdog for the Los Angeles Times, reports that the project has cost state taxpayers an average $3.1 million a day over the last year. Spending...
$6M in Contracts on the Line at Fresno Council
The city council will decide on nearly $6 million in contracts at Thursday’s meeting. Many of the requests for spending are for consultants. Some highlights: In an action scheduled for this Thursday’s (April 27) meeting, council will vote to extend a contract with Simon & Co., a Washington, D.C. lobbying...