Understanding Government

Residents across much of California may soon win the chance to say ‘no thanks’ to the new generation of electric and gas meters pushed by the Department of Energy, according to a report by Gary Richards and Paul Rodgers of the San Jose Mercury-News.

The rollout of so-called ‘SmartMeters’ has become a public relations disaster for utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Just after the new electronic meters went in, customers in the San Joaquin Valley began howling about monthly bills arriving that were hundreds of dollars higher than usual. Then, word began spreading that the new meters were inundating homes around the clock with electromagnetic radiation as they transmitted usage and billing information to the utility wirelessly. (more…)

You’ve seen the starving and malnourished third world toddlers on TV, their distended bellies and plaintive cries  used by charities for decades.  But you might be surprised to learn that the condition, called kwashiorkor (a Ghanaian term for ‘weaning sickness,’) is suddenly rife among senior citizens seeking treatment at certain California hospitals. Either that, or a hospital chain is soon going to be charged with “upcoding” ailments to goose Medicare reimbursements. That’s the conclusion of an investigation by Lance Williams, Christina Jewett and Stephen Doig of CaliforniaWatch. (more…)

Small alterations to irrigation practices used by California farmers could remove the need for massive new dams and canals, better protect the environment and leave more drinking water for residential customers, according to a report expected to be released to state water regulators in California next week.  Bettina Boxall profiles that report in the Los Angeles Times.

The report, certain to spark controversy among those benefiting from the status quo, suggests regulators revisit the legalistic phrase “reasonable use” in the state’s constitution: (more…)

Jerry Brown

The era of limits has returned, this time with a vengeance. Ominous fiscal clouds are forming a deluge of spending cuts that will touch every California resident, according to The Sacramento Bee’s Kevin Yamamura.

California may actually have to abandon its decades-long tradition of balancing its budget with accounting tricks.  And forget about “doing more with less” — in the near future, Californians should get to use “paying more for less.” (more…)

Financially strapped for decades, California’s public schools are on the brink of total collapse, according to a story by Sharon Noguchi in the San Jose Mercury-News. With state tax revenue still in the toilet, an extension of federal aid through stimulus funds all but inconceivable, every accounting trick exhausted, and a tax increase virtually impossible, gargantuan cuts are almost guaranteed.

The state’s recently signed and record-late current year budget sprang a leak almost immediately after being signed. Officials now estimate that there’s about $6 billion in red ink in the ‘balanced budget,’ as various accounting gimmicks began unraveling and another $19.5 billion in the budget year starting July 1. With education amounting to about 40 percent of all state spending, deep cuts appear unavoidable. (more…)