Tag: California

L.A. Tries to Combat Racial Inequities of COVID Inoculations

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.governing.com/community/LA-Tries-to-Combat-Racial-Inequities-of-COVID-Inoculations.html

Excerpt:

As stark disparities emerge in vaccination rates, L.A. County officials are jump-starting efforts to improve access for people of color. Strategies include creating more vaccination sites as well as better public messaging campaigns, improving access to transportation and reserving spots at neighborhood vaccination locations before people from other parts of the county can scoop them up.

“We have a lot of work to do to fix this,” L.A. County public health director Barbara Ferrer said Tuesday at a county Board of Supervisors meeting. “However way you cut this data, it’s clear that in some of our hardest-hit communities, there are populations that are not getting vaccinated at the same rate as other groups.”

On Tuesday morning, Darby stood in line yet again, this time at a vaccination blitz in South Park aimed at administering doses to 800 seniors, particularly Blacks and Latinos, as well as healthcare workers in four days. Though there are historical and cultural issues that may make Black residents skeptical of vaccines, the biggest issue in L.A. County thus far has been access, said Councilman Curren Price, who helped plan the event.

Author(s): RUBEN VIVES, JACLYN COSGROVE AND SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA, LOS ANGELES TIMES

Publication Date: 10 February 2021

Publication Site: Governing

Commentary: America’s Public Pension System Remains Mired in Crisis

Mary Pat Campbell
Commentary: America’s Public Pension System Remains Mired in Crisis

Excerpt:

The public pension system lost $1 trillion, a 21 percent loss for the fiscal year, following the COVID-19 lockdowns in March. In turn, these losses have added an overwhelming amount of stress on our public pension systems, as state and local pensions were already facing a $4.1 trillion shortfall. Public pension liabilities are on track to increase to $1.62 trillion this year, up from $1.35 trillion in 2019. These numbers are alarming as many governments now have less capacity to defer cost hikes or take mitigating actions because their non-asset cash flow has greatly declined.

Two of America’s most dire pension plan systems are in California and Illinois, two of the country’s largest states with large numbers of workers in defined contribution plans. In California, the economic effects of the virus are evident on the already strained public pension system. At the end of the first quarter, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, reported that their asset value had dropped 10.5 percent since June 2019 — a loss of $35 billion. Matters have only gotten worse in Illinois and could soon hit a level of catastrophe if aid does not come forth. Moody’s estimates that Illinois’ pension liability will rise from $230 billion in 2019 to $261 billion in 2020.

Author(s): Kevin O’Connor

Publication Date: 28 January 2021

Publication Site: Institute for Pension Fund Integrity

People are fed up with broken vaccine appointment tools — so they’re building their own

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/02/01/1016725/people-are-building-their-own-vaccine-appointment-tools/

Excerpt:

That very day, January 2, Craver worked from 3 in the afternoon until 11:30 at night to create Covid19 Vaccine TX, a site listing possible vaccination locations across the state. As a digital product designer, she knew that a site like this would have to be easy to read, intuitive to navigate, and quick to update. The idea was that people could upload information about vaccination sites, with each entry answering three questions: Was the vaccine available that day? Was the location taking appointments? Was there a wait list?

Craver loaded the project on the cloud-based spreadsheet service Airtable, posted a link on Reddit, and went to bed. When she woke up the next morning at 7 a.m., one entry was filled out. “At least somebody cares,” she remembers thinking. She spent the rest of the day manually inserting information for about 1,400 locations in the state. “I’ve been going nonstop since,” she says, estimating that she puts in about 40 hours of her free time every week to maintain the site. It has received 50,000 total visitors since launch.

Author(s): Tanya Basu

Publication Date: 1 February 2021

Publication Site: MIT Technology Review

Report: Riverside County’s pension liabilities high, but gap gradually closing

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/politics/2021/02/09/report-riverside-countys-pension-liabilities-high-but-gap-gradually-closing/4457794001/

Excerpt:

According to the report, the county’s retirement apparatus is now 71% funded, compared to 70% in January 2020.

Although the unfunded pension gap increased from $3.5 billion to $3.6 billion in that time, the total market value of the county’s assets also grew, from $8.1 billion to $8.8 billion, according to PARC.

….

If investment growth remains positive, and the county’s financial condition does not suffer from additional financial shocks like the one stemming from coronavirus, PARC estimated that the 80% funded status could be attained by 2027.

Author(s): City News Service

Publication Date: 9 February 2021

Publication Site: Desert Sun

Corte Madera moves to refinance pension obligation

Mary Pat Campbell
Corte Madera moves to refinance pension obligation

Excerpt:

The town of Corte Madera is moving toward refinancing its $21.4 million pension liability to help manage its budget more effectively while still coping with a loss of revenue from the pandemic.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Mayor Eli Beckman said. “We are doing quite well relative to our worst fears and what we are seeing other municipalities get hit with. Corte Madera has been lucky.”

The town’s annual payments to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, known as CalPERS, have ballooned from $733,000 in 2015 to $1.37 million this year, according to a Nov. 17 staff report. The town projects the annual payments will grow to $2.1 million by 2025 and $2.26 million by 2031.

Author(s): LORENZO MOROTTI

Publication Date: 20 January 2021

Publication Site: Marin Independent Journal

Editorial: Marin pension changes are painful but necessary

Mary Pat Campbell
Editorial: Marin pension changes are painful but necessary

Excerpt:

The combination of reality and responsible caution is getting expensive for Marin public agencies that provide their workers with generous pensions.

The member agencies in the Marin County Employees’ Retirement Association are getting the latest dose and the association’s board voted to reduce its annual assumption rate on investment returns to 6.75%. It is a quarter of one percent reduction, but one that will cost agencies such as the county and the city of San Rafael thousands of dollars every year.

….

It recognizes a combination of expected returns on its stock market and real estate investments and that the number of pensioners is not only growing, but they are living longer and drawing more from the fund.

Living longer may be great news for the retirees, but it is an increased cost for MCERA.

Author(s): MARIN IJ EDITORIAL BOARD

Publication Date: 28 January 2021

Publication Site: Marin Independent Journal

A California Plan to Chase Away the Rich, Then Keep Stalking Them

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-california-plan-to-chase-away-the-rich-then-keep-stalking-them-11608331448?st=eciwz3atsygqzun&reflink=article_email_share

Excerpt:

California’s Legislature is considering a wealth tax on residents, part-year residents, and any person who spends more than 60 days inside the state’s borders in a single year. Even those who move out of state would continue to be subject to the tax for a decade — a provision that calls to mind the Eagles’ famous “Hotel California” lyric: “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”

The California Constitution probably allows a statewide wealth tax on residents, but any effort to create a tax capable of reaching across state borders is likely to run afoul of the U.S. Constitution. Taxing someone who spends only 60 days in the state in any single year — and extending that tax over an ensuing decade — would be something new under the sun.

Author(s): Hank Adler

Publication Date: 18 December 2020

Publication Site: Wall Street Journal

Public Pension Timebomb, Explained | Former Mayor of Costa Mesa Jim Righeimer

Mary Pat Campbell

Description:

What are public pension liabilities? And how could they potentially become one of the Biggest Economic Time Bombs in our lifetime? Why aren’t government officials questioning the unfunded pension liabilities? And, just how challenging is it to tackle the pension crisis? Today we sit down with Jim Righeimer, the former mayor of Costa Mesa. He will offer his insider insight into the public pension liability crisis and what it means for the future of Californians’ retirement.

Publication Date: 11 July 2020

Date Accessed: 1 February 2021

Producer: California Insider – The Epoch Times

Mortality with Meep: Excess Mortality in California, Texas, and Florida by Race/Ethnicity

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://marypatcampbell.substack.com/p/mortality-with-meep-excess-mortality-8e2

Excerpt:

For Hispanics, it’s two thirds, with most of it coming from California (23%), then Texas (21%), then Florida (10%). New York City accounts for 9%, and then the rest of New York state for 3%.

UPDATE: Checking out the Hispanic population by state, these percentages are a little in line with national distribution — California (26% of U.S. Hispanic population), Texas (19%), Florida (9%), New York (including NYC — 6%). The most disproportionate effect comes from New York City.

Graph:

Author: Mary Pat Campbell

Publication Date: 31 January 2021

Publication Site: STUMP