News

This year California will devote more than $120 billion to Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid that serves more than one of every three residents.

In traditional philanthropy there’s likely a correlation between wealth and impact but that’s less the case with political philanthropy where steadfastness is more important. That’s because the path to political change is steep and narrow. To change any of California’s 29 codes of law, a legislator must gain the agreement of 61 other legislators, each of whom has their own priorities. What matters in that world are seniority, committee assignments and bank balances, and what legislators in that world need are supporters who are always there for them. That’s one reason we have 18 chapters, each of which is among the largest and most steadfast donors to legislators.

Dear Legislators,

We are pleased that 94% of Californians now have health coverage. We’d love to see that figure rise to 100%. Multi-payer universal coverage systems such as those that dominate continental Europe and towards which California is marching can work extremely well. But one big difference is that European systems do a better job of controlling costs and utilization. That’s one reason the US devotes so much more of its GDP to health spending without getting much better health in exchange, and also why some enterprises — including providers doing business with the state who make political donations — are so profitable.

Recently a journalist concluded “the California Dream is dying.”

Dear Legislators,

California’s unemployment rate (7.5 percent) is the second highest in the nation and 44 percent higher than the national rate (5.2 percent).

California’s 120 state legislators have responsibility over 29 legal codes that govern daily life:

Under SEC rules, investment advisors who do work for state and local pension funds can be disqualified if they make political contributions at certain levels to elected officials or candidates for those offices who have a say in the public pension decisions to contract with investment advisors. That’s a good thing because public pension funds such as CalPERS and CalSTRS enter into money management contracts the objectives of which should be to protect pension beneficiaries and taxpayers, not to enrich Wall Street.

Dear Legislators,

Earlier this week I easily applied online for a REAL ID and the next day smoothly completed the procedure in person at a DMV office. The process was painless and DMV staff were kind.

In June the governor and legislature quietly granted an unwarranted $500 million per year salary increase to state prison guards using a loophole inserted into state code in 1981.

CA Gov. Code Section 19826 deals with “Administration of Salaries” amounting to $20 billion per year.