Why California Politics Is Different from the Rest of the Country

[JayhawkSD]

10. It remains to be seen how this will work out.

There are increasing signs that the "budget surplus" is an anomaly which will not hold up, and public sector pensions are far from being solved. To a very large degree the state finances have been improved at the cost of removing money from cities ("Revedevelopment Zones" eliminated), and city improvement budgets are essentially zero. The tax increase was temporary, and I'm not sure we should be celebrating temporary solutions to long term problems.

Voters voted to convert public pensions to 401k defined contribution plans, and public sector unions sued in court to have the vote overturned. The court ruled for the unions, and 74% of the voters are not happy with unions right now, so unions should not be feeling too secure at this point. Public sector union pensions are becoming a very sore point in this state. There are $billions in unfunded union pensions which are an impending serious problem.