Statewide Day of Action, 2013 Budget Release

Take Action California had the privilege of participating in the Statewide Day of Action in San Bernardino, CA. The rally, "Reinvest in California Families, Seniors, and People with Disabilities," took place at the Rosa Parks State Bldg Gov't Center office. This event took place almost simultaneously in other California cities including San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Fresno.

We were thrilled to see everyone who participated, including collaborative partners Time for Change Foundation and California Partnership (organizer).

Below are some pictures of the event.

To learn more about the Statewide Day of Action, visit http://www.communitychange.org/

Calif. budget debate turns to spending, not cuts

Gov. Jerry Brown is preparing a spending plan as California faces its most optimistic financial outlook in years, yet the Democratic governor's intention to stick with a frugal fiscal agenda could put him on a collision course with Democratic lawmakers who seek to restore state services lost during the recession.

After years of deep spending cuts to education, health and social programs, Brown and California lawmakers will be debating this year how to spend the state's money rather than battling over what to cut.

Brown will release his budget proposal Thursday for the 2013-14 fiscal year, which begins July 1. He is expected to boost education funding by at least $2 billion, as he promised during his campaign for Proposition 30. The November initiative's sales and income tax increases are expected to generate $6 billion a year.

But he also said this week that "2013 is the year of fiscal discipline and living within our means, and I'm going to make sure that happens."

The state's nonpartisan legislative analyst has pegged the 2013-14 budget deficit at $1.9 billion, a vast turnaround from the double-digit deficits of the last several years. The Legislature is required by law to approve a balanced budget by June 15, which will still force lawmakers to cut some areas of spending to close the deficit.

Brown is likely to face some of his biggest challenges this year from fellow Democrats, who now hold two-thirds majorities in the Assembly and Senate and are eager to restore spending to a host of programs after years of cuts. Brown is more fiscally conservative than many Democratic lawmakers, favoring restoring school funding and building a robust rainy day fund over expanding services.

"People want to have more child care, they want to have more people locked up, they want to have more rehab, more, more, more. More judges, more courtrooms. We have to live within reasonable limits," Brown said in a Capitol news conference this week.

The legislative analyst's office has projected that the state will spend nearly $56 billion of a $94 billion general fund budget on education in the 2013-14 fiscal year, about $2 billion more than last year. That money comes partly through a voter-approved education funding guarantee that requires the state to spend more on schools when tax revenue rises.

"You can take this to the bank: We're not going to spend money that we can't afford to spend," Brown said. "We have to do more with less; that's just the way life is."

Like Brown, the analyst's office has also cautioned that the state's rosy forecast is dependent upon maintaining the strict spending limits of the past few years.

Still, the added revenue from the voter-approved tax increases allow the governor and lawmakers to begin to tinker with school funding formulas, which Brown is expected to address in his budget.

His administration advocates scrapping a series of dedicated funds aimed at addressing specific issues. Instead, he favors freeing school districts to spend that money in areas they deem most important.

Brown's proposed school formula also is intended to target spending to the neediest students, which is likely to draw opposition from parents and teachers in more prosperous areas.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said he is open to Brown's school funding proposal. He said the goal is laudable, but there will be a lot of details to work out.

"How do you make sure, without micromanaging, that the kids that need help the most get the help that they need?" Steinberg said. "How do you make sure that the proven approaches to improving student achievement and helping kids graduate are funded?"

The legislative analyst projected last fall that the state's overall general fund spending would be about $94 billion, nearly 8 percent more than in 2012. California's general fund spending hit a high of $103 billion during the 2007-08 budget, the year the recession began, falling to a low of $87 billion in the 2011-12 fiscal year.

Still, some expenses will grow in the short term, although the analyst said they are likely to be outpaced by higher revenue in the long term. For example, more Californians are expected to sign up for Medi-Cal, the state's health insurance program for the poor, as states prepare to implement the federal health care reform law.

via Fresno Bee

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/01/09/3127418/calif-budget-debate-turns-to-spending.html#storylink=cpy

Governor Brown will release state budget for Medical through the Affordable Care Act

On Thursday, January 10th, Governor Brown will release his state budget proposal and will announce how California will or will not expand Medical through the Affordable Care Act.

On January 10, 2013, health and human service advocates across the state will hold five rallies in support of a "California Budget for the 99%."

After the passage of Proposition 30, there still a 2 Billion Dollar Deficit. We need more revenue solutions so no cuts in health and human services and education are not on the chopping block.

These rallies - which will take place in Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Bernardino, and San Francisco - will coincide with the anticipated release of the Governor's 2013 budget.

At the rallies, advocates will call for a budget that prioritizes the needs of the state's most vulnerable residents and voice their support for revenue solutions that will rebuild California's social safety net.

California schools flunk education group's ratings

California is sorely lacking when it comes to school reform, failing to adopt policies to limit teacher tenure and use student test scores in teacher evaluations, according to a rating of states issued Monday by a high-profile education advocacy group.

California received an overall grade of F, ranking 41st nationally, from StudentsFirst, a Sacramento-based group run by Michelle Rhee, the former schools chancellor in Washington, D.C., whose outspoken views have polarized those who share her focus on improving the nation's schools.

Her group's "report card" concentrates "singularly on the education policies in place in each of our states," Rhee said in a statement. "And when we look solely at policy, it's clear that we have a long way to go toward improving our education system in America."

Critics said the ratings say more about Rhee's views than about the state of the nation's schools.

Eleven states received failing grades. California received its only high mark for being the birthplace of "parent trigger" laws, which allow parents, by petition, to replace the staff of a low-performing school or turn over the campus to an independently operated charter.

California's schools would benefit from a statewide teacher and principal evaluation system that incorporates student achievement as a significant factor, the report said.

Such value-added formulas measure a teacher's effect on a student's learning through standardized test scores, taking into account a student's past performance and such factors as race or poverty. Some experts and teacher unions are skeptical of the method, and those critics have had allies in Gov. Jerry Brown and state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.

The California Department of Education had little use for Rhee's rating, with Deputy Supt. Richard Zeiger telling the New York Times that the F grade was a "badge of honor."

The department did not back down when the remark sparked some criticism.

"We're quite happy that California is moving in the opposite direction," said spokesman Paul Hefner. "We think that our schools are making incredible progress, given the enormous strains schools have been under in recent years."

Rhee's top-rated states are Louisiana and Florida; each earned a B-. No state earned an A.

Louisiana has been notable for converting many campuses to non-union charter schools. The state also allows lower-income students or those at poorly performing schools to receive public funds for private school. Florida requires 50% of a teacher's evaluation to be based on student performance. Parents are notified when children are placed with a teacher designated as unsatisfactory, the report said.

Rhee's system gives credit for aggressive state intervention as opposed to local control. Montana was among states receiving an F, in part for asserting "no authority to intervene when schools and districts are not meeting expectations."

The Rhee system gives no direct credit for actual student achievement or the level of spending on schools. Massachusetts, which is frequently lauded in both areas, received a D+ from Rhee's group.

Rhee rose to prominence as the head of schools in the District of Columbia, where she pressured educators to improve student achievement and fired many of them.

via LA Times

More than 1 in 5 California children live in poverty, study finds

As California diversifies, it will face serious economic struggles if it fails to pay attention to widespread childhood poverty, according to a report released Monday by the Center for the Next Generation. The center found that more than 1 in 5 children in the state are living in poverty.

The study, "Prosperity Threatened: Perspectives on Childhood Poverty in California," focuses on new U.S. Census Bureau figures, finding that childhood poverty is endemic among the state’s fastest-growing population -- Latinos -- with nearly 1 in 3 Latino children living at or below the poverty line.

Researchers contrasted the numbers with data on seniors, which showed fewer than 1 in 10 living in poverty.

“We can’t honestly separate our state’s economic future from current poverty rates among our kids,” said Ann O’Leary, vice president and director of the center, who co-wrote the report. “Our ability to thrive as the world’s ninth-largest economy depends on having an educated, healthy and stable next generation of workers.

"We’re headed in the opposite direction,” she added.

The study, which was funded by the center, details a trend of increased childhood poverty in California that accelerated during the recession. And while childhood poverty fell in five California counties between 2006 and 2011, 16 counties saw a reduction in senior poverty during the same period.

Los Angeles County, with more than 9.6 million people, is home to nearly 2.4 million children -- more than 17% of whom live in poverty, according to the study.

Of 51 counties studied, L.A. County ranked 22nd in terms of poverty rate.

In Orange County, slightly more than 16% of the children live at or below the poverty line, according to the study.

“We’ve taken steps to provide our seniors with some level of assurance that they’ll be cared for in their later years,” said O’Leary, adding that the study, funded by the center's general budget, began last fall. “California’s grandparents should ask why their grandkids don’t get the same treatment.” 

The report noted a correlation between education levels and childhood poverty rates; counties with the highest number of parents with college degrees also have the lowest levels of childhood poverty. The opposite also is true, the study found.

O'Leary and her coauthors suggest that state leaders make tackling childhood poverty a central goal of any economic recovery plan.

The center's mission is to influence the national debate over sustainable energy and improving opportunities for children and families.

via LA Times

California lawmaker's bill pushes college degree for $10,000

With the cost of going to college already more than $30,000 a year at many California campuses, is it possible to earn a bachelor's degree for just $10,000 – total?

Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Marysville, hopes so.

Borrowing an idea being promoted by Republican governors in Texas and Florida, the GOP assemblyman has introduced a bill that would create a pilot program in California for what he's billing as a $10,000 bachelor's degree.

The degree would be available to students majoring in science, technology, engineering or math disciplines.

Assembly Bill 51 calls for closer coordination between high schools, community colleges and California State University campuses and targets three regions for the pilot program: Chico, Long Beach and Turlock.

Participating students would earn some college credit in high school through Advanced Placement classes and greater access to community college courses.

The bill calls for participating community college students to go to school full time.

Tuition at CSU right now is $5,472 a year. Books and campus fees cost another roughly $2,000 annually. A statement from Logue said his proposed $10,000 degree would include textbooks. It does not cover living expenses such as room and board.

"I hope my bill will be the beginning of a revolution to the very pressing issue of the costs of college that students face these days," Logue said in a statement. "We cannot expect today's students to have a higher standard of living than their parents if they continue to leave college saddled with so much debt."

Even on a topic as politically sympathetic as making college more affordable, it remains to be seen if the Republican's bill can make any headway in California's Democratic-controlled Legislature.

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez has his own plan for lowering the cost of college – what he calls a "middle-class scholarship" program – and Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown has said he wants universities to increase affordability by doing more with online education.

CSU officials have not taken a position on the bill.

Logue's bill builds on efforts already under way in California to better streamline K-12 schools, community colleges and universities, said Judy Heiman, a higher education analyst with the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.

"The bill also appears to draw on existing regional education partnerships, an approach we think makes a lot of sense," Heiman wrote in an email. "In addition, the incentives in the bill for full time attendance would support current efforts to improve graduation rates."

via The Sacramento Bee

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/03/5089069/california-lawmakers-bill-pushes.html#storylink=cpy

California Fracking Disclosure Rules Leave Some Environmentalists Unsatisfied

 Underneath much of Central and southern California sits the single largest deposit of shale oil in the United States, boasting a motherlode of some 15 billion barrels of oil.

While the Monterey Shale's unique geology has prevented energy companies from unleashing a new West Coast energy boom, California regulators have begun to take the first steps in regulating hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking"), a controversial practice decried by environmentalists and the most promising solution for retrieving said oil.

The process of injecting a mixture of water, sand and other chemicals into a well in order to stimulate the flow of oil or natural gas, fracking is especially helpful in accessing energy deposits in shale formations that would otherwise be out of reach using traditional methods.

Kassie Siegel of the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, which is in the process of suing the state for doing what it calls an insufficient job of regulating fracking, argues that the practice has the potential to do irreparable harm to the environment. She notes that a quarter of all the chemicals used in fracking are known carcinogens, and some people living near fracked wells have reported health ailments like vomiting, nausea and seizures.

On the other hand, industry representatives have pointed to a recent year-long study conducted in Southern California's Ingleside Oil Field that found no negative health, air quality or seismic effects from the fracking occurring there. The study, paid for by Plains Exploration & Production Company as part of a lawsuit against the energy producer, has been criticized by environmentalists for not looking at the long-term heath effects of fracking.

Earlier this month, the California Department of Conservation's Department of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) released a preliminary set of regulatory guidelines for all fracking activities occurring in the state.

During a phone conference with members of the media last week, state regulators noted that many of the rules they're planning to put in place mandate practices already standard across the energy industry. However, one area headed for change is the requirement that companies disclose all the chemicals they use in fracking.

The new rules mandate that all chemicals used in the fracking process be disclosed within 60 days after the completion of fracking and that the state be notified 10 days before fracking occurs.

Presently, energy producers aren't required to tell anyone where or when they're using hydraulic fracturing, although many companies have started to do so on a voluntarily basis through industry-run site FracFocus.org after state regulators asked them to do so earlier this year. Under the new regulatory regime, reporting chemicals on FracFocus would become mandatory.

FracFocus now lists information for just over 600 fracked wells in California. According to Western States Petroleum Association Spokesman Tupper Hull, a recent survey found that of the 47,000 active wells, only 628 utilize hydraulic fracturing.

Some environmentalists have questioned the wisdom of relying on a private, industry-run website to host this information, especially when said site isn't required to comply with Freedom Of Information Act requests. However, on last week's conference call, regulators explained that the state retains the ability to extricate itself from FracFocus at any time and build its own site if they feel FracFocus isn't doing an adequate job. It would likely take California at least three years to get its own version of FracFocus online, whereas the industry site is ready now and has been hosting voluntary disclosures for over a year.

"When the companies voluntarily disclosure info, we're happy," said Scott Anderson, a senior policy advisor at the Environmental Defense Fund. "But voluntary disclosure is insufficient."

Surprisingly, over the past year or so, many of the companies engaging in fracking have come to the same conclusion as Anderson. When Wyoming adopted a mandatory disclosure rule in 2010, the state imposed it over significant industry opposition. However, as Anderson explained, the industry has come to see mandatory disclosure as a way to overcome some of the widespread hostility toward fracking. "There's no reason for people to trust data that's doled out by these companies on a voluntary basis," he explained.

This newfound openness toward letting the whole world know about precisely which chemicals they're pumping into the ground isn't exactly universal--it stops at a line marked "trade secrets."

Firms in states with mandatory disclosure rules, such as the ones proposed in California, are able to avoid releasing information about certain compounds by saying that making this information public would put them at a competitive disadvantage against other drilling firms.

The California rules would allow the state to challenge trade secrets claims and require immediate disclosure if a heath professional declares a medical emergency.

In an editorial published a few days after the release of this new set of regulations, the Sacramento Bee came down strongly in favor of the state demanding the strongest level of disclosure possible:
As valuable as fossil fuels are, California groundwater is a much more treasured resource, and it needs to be protected. We don't allow food companies to withhold the fact they might be adding carcinogenic chemicals to their recipes. Why should we allow oil companies to do the same with fracking?

California must insist on full disclosure on fracking chemicals. If regulators think they lack the authority to order such disclosure, then the Legislature will need to pass legislation to make it the law of the land.

Siegel came out even more forcefully. "These draft regulations would keep California's fracking shrouded in secrecy and do little to contain the many threats posed by fracking," she said in a statement. "These regulations are going to have to be completely rewritten if the goal is to provide real protection for our air, water, and communities."

Formal discussion of the fracking rules will begin early next year. During that process, regulators plan on meeting with both environmentalists and industry representatives and will host a series of town hall discussions with members of public in oil-producing areas across the state.

via Huffington Post