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California can handle all of its cash flow needs in-house, State Controller Betty Yee said Monday, the first time since before the dot-com bust that that the state will make it through a fiscal year without turning to Wall Street for short-term loans to smooth the ebb-and-flow of tax revenue.
The state has used “revenue anticipation notes,” known as RANs, in every year since the 2000-01 fiscal year. After that, Silicon Valley billions gave way to shortfalls, and the state suffered chronic budget problems for much of the next decade, including a low point during the recession that hit in 2008.
Monday, Yee’s office reported that the $5.7 billion in state revenue last month was virtually identical to what lawmakers predicted in the June budget package. In addition, the state has “unused borrowable resources” in various special funds totaling $26.1 billion, about 11 percent more than anyone expected.
That is more than enough money to cover the state’s short-term cash needs when general fund spending temporarily exceeds revenue, Yee’s office said, without any need for RANs – and the interest expense that comes with using them.
Via: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article30659625.html
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article30659625.html#storylink=cpy
A proposal to expand health care to Californians in the country illegally cleared the Senate on Tuesday, passing on a 28-11 vote and heading to the Assembly.
Senate Bill 4 would allow undocumented immigrants to purchase health insurance on the state exchange, pending a federal waiver, and enroll eligible children under the age of 19 in Medi-Cal, the state’s insurance program for the poor. A capped number of undocumented adults would also be allowed participate, if additional funding is appropriated in the state budget.
“We are talking about our friends, we are talking about our neighbors and our families who are denied basic health care in the richest state of this union,” said Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, the measure’s author. “Ensuring that every child in California grows up healthy and with an opportunity to thrive and succeed is simply the right thing to do.”
Debate got increasingly feisty as it turned into a discussion of stalled immigration reform efforts in Congress. Sen. Isadore Hall, D-Los Angeles, baited his Republican colleagues to support SB 4, calling their “excuses” not to support the measure “tools of the weak and incompetent.”
Republican Sens. Andy Vidak of Hanford and Anthony Cannella of Ceres, who both represent swing agricultural districts, joined Democrats in voting yes on the bill.
The bill aims to expand the scope of the federal Affordable Care Act, which prohibited undocumented immigrants from participating in any of the health insurance exchanges it established. Under SB 4, California would also be required to apply for a federal waiver to allow individuals to buy plans on the exchange regardless of immigration status, though those who are not citizens would not be eligible for assistance to pay for the coverage.
Lara scaled back the bill last week to help it get past the Senate Appropriations Committee, where a similar proposal was held last year.
SB 4 still faces a challenging road in the Assembly, and should it make to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk, a signature is not guaranteed. Brown has expressed skepticism over the bill because of its high cost, estimated to be as much as $135 million annually.
Via: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article22904433.html#storylink=cpy
