<story><title>Healthy California Act: proposal to make findings about single-payer healthcare</title><url>http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB562</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>mmanfrin</author><text>[2] is about CalPERS, which is separate from the budget of the State. There may be a current budget shortfall, but CalPERS is fine (it is the largest non-country pension fund in the world; and comes in the top 10 when listed among countries).&lt;p&gt;[3] mentions that tax revenues will fall because of the end of temporary tax increases; those increases are likely to be renewed.&lt;p&gt;Categorizing these as &amp;#x27;severe budget issues&amp;#x27; is disingenuous and misleading. California has had a &lt;i&gt;bumper crop&lt;/i&gt; in terms of tax revenue over the past decade, and this stupid meme about California being out of money needs to be corrected.&lt;p&gt;That being said, health care is not an inexpensive line-item, and will &lt;i&gt;have&lt;/i&gt; to be funded with taxes.&lt;p&gt;But as a Californian, I&amp;#x27;m sure as shit happy to pay more in taxes for a universal single single-payer. I have many friends who are either contractors or who earn very little and find themselves in that uncomfortable valley of having to pay for expensive insurance -- I&amp;#x27;d rather that people (like me) who are better off financially foot a bit more of a communal bill so that no one would need to worry about it.</text></item><item><author>gavman</author><text>Vermont tried this a few years ago, they had to cancel it since in the end it wasn&amp;#x27;t financially feasible [1]. CA is already dealing with severe budget issues [2][3], so while it sounds nice in theory I&amp;#x27;m hesitant to believe the finances actually work out.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.politico.com&amp;#x2F;story&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;single-payer-vermont-113711&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.politico.com&amp;#x2F;story&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;single-payer-vermont-1...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;[2] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.latimes.com&amp;#x2F;projects&amp;#x2F;la-me-pension-crisis-davis-deal&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.latimes.com&amp;#x2F;projects&amp;#x2F;la-me-pension-crisis-davis-d...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;[3] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.cnbc.com&amp;#x2F;2016&amp;#x2F;05&amp;#x2F;26&amp;#x2F;californias-revenue-picture-dims.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.cnbc.com&amp;#x2F;2016&amp;#x2F;05&amp;#x2F;26&amp;#x2F;californias-revenue-picture-d...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>DrScump</author><text>&lt;p&gt;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;  California has had a bumper crop in terms of tax revenue 
&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;
... but is &lt;i&gt;outspending&lt;/i&gt; even that!  There was a &amp;quot;surprise&amp;quot; &lt;i&gt;extra&lt;/i&gt; $1.9 billion deficit hit from Medi-Cal last fiscal year[0] (which should tell you something about the government&amp;#x27;s inability to track or control spending), and an overall budget &lt;i&gt;deficit&lt;/i&gt; is projected for the current year.&lt;p&gt;And this doesn&amp;#x27;t even count the huge infrastructure deficiencies and deferred maintenance.&lt;p&gt;[0] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.pressdemocrat.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;6563825-181&amp;#x2F;19-billion-error-adds-to&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.pressdemocrat.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;6563825-181&amp;#x2F;19-billion-err...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Healthy California Act: proposal to make findings about single-payer healthcare</title><url>http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB562</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>mmanfrin</author><text>[2] is about CalPERS, which is separate from the budget of the State. There may be a current budget shortfall, but CalPERS is fine (it is the largest non-country pension fund in the world; and comes in the top 10 when listed among countries).&lt;p&gt;[3] mentions that tax revenues will fall because of the end of temporary tax increases; those increases are likely to be renewed.&lt;p&gt;Categorizing these as &amp;#x27;severe budget issues&amp;#x27; is disingenuous and misleading. California has had a &lt;i&gt;bumper crop&lt;/i&gt; in terms of tax revenue over the past decade, and this stupid meme about California being out of money needs to be corrected.&lt;p&gt;That being said, health care is not an inexpensive line-item, and will &lt;i&gt;have&lt;/i&gt; to be funded with taxes.&lt;p&gt;But as a Californian, I&amp;#x27;m sure as shit happy to pay more in taxes for a universal single single-payer. I have many friends who are either contractors or who earn very little and find themselves in that uncomfortable valley of having to pay for expensive insurance -- I&amp;#x27;d rather that people (like me) who are better off financially foot a bit more of a communal bill so that no one would need to worry about it.</text></item><item><author>gavman</author><text>Vermont tried this a few years ago, they had to cancel it since in the end it wasn&amp;#x27;t financially feasible [1]. CA is already dealing with severe budget issues [2][3], so while it sounds nice in theory I&amp;#x27;m hesitant to believe the finances actually work out.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.politico.com&amp;#x2F;story&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;single-payer-vermont-113711&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.politico.com&amp;#x2F;story&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;single-payer-vermont-1...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;[2] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.latimes.com&amp;#x2F;projects&amp;#x2F;la-me-pension-crisis-davis-deal&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.latimes.com&amp;#x2F;projects&amp;#x2F;la-me-pension-crisis-davis-d...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;[3] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.cnbc.com&amp;#x2F;2016&amp;#x2F;05&amp;#x2F;26&amp;#x2F;californias-revenue-picture-dims.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.cnbc.com&amp;#x2F;2016&amp;#x2F;05&amp;#x2F;26&amp;#x2F;californias-revenue-picture-d...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ng12</author><text>&amp;gt; it is the largest non-country pension fund in the world; and comes in the top 10 when listed among countries&lt;p&gt;Yes, and that&amp;#x27;s the problem. It&amp;#x27;s funding is at 73% and dropping -- that 27% is an astronomical deficit.&lt;p&gt;Numbers here: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.calpers.ca.gov&amp;#x2F;page&amp;#x2F;newsroom&amp;#x2F;calpers-news&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;annual-report-details-fund-finances&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.calpers.ca.gov&amp;#x2F;page&amp;#x2F;newsroom&amp;#x2F;calpers-news&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;a...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>