Where is the Money Going?
State Analyst Praises Brown’s Budget but Warns of Volatile Stock Market
In cautioning against making any promises today the state might not want to keep tomorrow, the Analyst pointed out that most of any windfall is already committed to education through Proposition 98 and lawmakers should be wary of making commitments outside of that. With that in mind, he recommended lawmakers begin discussing now how it would spend additional Prop. 98 K-12 money generated by a booming economy. read more
Medicare Penalizes One-Fourth of California Hospitals for Treatment of Patients
More than 720 hospitals were dinged nationwide under the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HAC), costing them an estimated $373 million for adverse events, including blood clots, bedsores and avoidable infections resulting from catheters. Many prestigious hospitals were penalized, including the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. read more
8 Things Missing from Governor Brown’s $113.3-Billion Budget Plan
As Governor Brown pointed out in his inaugural/state-of-the-state speech last week, California has gone from a $26-billion budget deficit to a balanced budget in four years. The budget is, however, precariously perched upon the razor’s edge of a volatile world economy, escalating climate change, and ill political and social winds. read more
Bondholder Sues Bankrupt San Bernardino for Not Whacking Pensioners
San Bernardino said it would pay its annual $24-million CalPERS bill and start repaying millions more. The Luxembourg bank wants that decision to be made by a judge. If CalPERS is made whole, the bank wants the city’s entire $50 million debt to them paid. California’s Constitution explicitly protects pension funds but a federal bankruptcy judge said he wasn’t bound by that in determining Stockton’s fate last year. read more
Homeland Security Audit Says Costly Border Drones Don’t Do Much
The 8-year, $500 million program employs nine Predator B drones to patrol 1,993 miles of border along California, Arizona and Texas. A tenth ditched in the ocean near San Diego a year ago. The inspector general’s audit found the program was wildly expensive, there was “little or no evidence” of its effectiveness and its administration shoddy. read more
California Surges to 46th in K-12 Education Spending Thanks to Even More Miserly States
California leaped from being the nation’s second-worst state for spending to sixth worst one year later in 2010-2011, according to rankings compiled by the independent nonprofit publisher of K-12 materials. But that’s pretty thin gruel. California moved up in the rankings even though its adjusted spending per student declined slightly, because the national average declined even more. read more
State Auditor Issues Scathing Report on California Court Administrators
In a report released this week, the auditor castigated the state Judicial Council, which oversees the judiciary, for lax control of the AOC, its administrative arm. Consequently, the AOC “engaged in about $30 million in questionable compensation and business practices over a four-year period and failed to adequately disclose its expenditures to stakeholders and the public,” Auditor Elaine Howle wrote. read more
Shell Halts $90-Million Payout for Toxic Neighborhood after Judge Says Deal Can’t Be Secret
In reviewing the settlement before deciding whether to accept it, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Highberger indicated he might not keep terms of the agreement secret, as agreed to by the parties. That didn’t sit well with Shell Oil and last month the company told the judge the settlement is unsettled while they consider their options. read more
Judge Decides Elderly Mentally-Ill Woman Meant Millions for Charity—Not Her Lawyer
“If Siv had not been delusional about Carl . . . she would not have left him her estate,” Judge Nevitt wrote. “A mentally healthy Siv would not have left her estate, worth millions of dollars, to Carl, a lawyer she randomly met and hired in 2004.” The U-T San Diego said some of the hundreds of letters between them contained sexual innuendo. read more
Yosemite Concessionaire, in Contract Talks, Claims Trademark on Park Landmarks
Delaware North, in competition to renew the 15-year Yosemite contract it secured in 1993 and had extended in 2008, says trademarks it picked up over the years on the the Ahwahnee Hotel, the Wawona Hotel, the Badger Pass ski area, Curry Village and other landmarks, are worth $51 million. It wants the contract or compensation. read more
Pasadena Accuses Ex-City Employee of Stealing $6.4 Million from “Slush Fund”
Danny R. Wooten, a preacher and a former analyst with the city’s Department of Public Works, was charged in a 60-count felony indictment. City Manager Michael J. Beck called it “a complete breakdown of our internal controls.” Wooten allegedly fabricated 300 invoices, generating 189 checks to four fake vendors over 11 years. read more
Women’s Place Is Still Not in California Corporate Leadership
Only 12.6% of top corporate executives in California are women, up from 11.7% in 2006, according to the tenth edition of UC Davis' “Census of Women Directors and Highest-Paid Executives.” There are three more women CEOs. A little more than one-fourth of the 400 companies have all-male boards. That’s an improvement from last year’s 26.8%. read more
Toothless Insurance Commissioner Growls at Aetna for Big Health Premium Increase
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones thinks Aetna’s health insurance premium increase for small-business policies is “excessive and unreasonable” but can't do anything about it. According to the Department of Insurance, 64,000 people will experience average rate increases of 10.7%, with some as high as 19.5% beginning January 1. read more
Education Dept. OKs Sale of Failing For-Profit Colleges to Debt Collection Company
Corinthian Colleges, described as “one of the most abusive and deceptive for-profit college companies” in the country, was on its way to going out of business when student loan collector ECMC said it wanted to buy it. Officials in the U.S. Department of Education approved the deal in which ECMC will pay $24 million for 56 campuses operating under the names Everest and WyoTech. David Halperin says that ECMC stepping in to assume control of the schools is a “terrible mistake.” read more
Koch Brothers Group Sues State to Keep Political Donor Names Hidden
The Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP), chaired by David Koch, claimed the information was a violation of its First Amendment right to free speech. This is the first year Attorney General Kamala Harris required the group to provide the information, although the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires it for tax purposes. read more
State Controller’s Employee Compensation Database Limited by Lack of Transparency
The interactive database―payroll data from state agencies, cities, counties, courts, education and some other entities―has big gaps and isn’t very transparent. The database does not identify entries by name. It uses job titles―obscure job titles that make it nearly impossible to identify top executives for purposes of comparison. Perhaps more important than not being able to stalk employees from a home computer is the inability to aggregate data because of information gaps. read more