Free Republic

If voters rely solely on ballot arguments when deciding in May whether to pass a constitutional limit on state spending, they will miss the fact that the measure also would extend higher sales, vehicle and income taxes by up to two more years. Legislative leaders so far have successfully omitted the fact that Proposition 1A will essentially trigger up to $14 billion in additional taxes from July 2011 to June 2013. Although Republican legislators submitted ballot arguments against the proposal emphasizing billions of dollars in tax increases, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, chose a Democratic legislator to pen...

An ailing economy is threatening the success of welfare reforms that in the past decade moved millions of people off the public dole and into jobs.Caseloads are shooting up in Sacramento County and across the state as the economy slumps and unemployment rises. At the same time, the welfare system is facing unprecedented budget cuts from the state and a possible financial penalty from the federal government.The effect is fewer services for people who need them more than ever, administrators told The Bee. "I have a lot of concern right now," said Bruce Wagstaff, director of the Department of Human...