Californians

For a clue to why California is losing its allure as a place to settle down, just ask Jennifer McCluer, who moved out of California in 2007 after she obtained her license in skin care. Unable to afford Orange County's sky-high rents, she opted for Portland, Ore. "A big motivator was that I lived with roommate after roommate after roommate," said McCluer, 30. "Friends said you could probably live on your own up here. The rent was a huge deal for me. " McCluer would like to move back, but it's still too expensive.

Covered California, the state's health insurance exchange, announced $37 million in grants Tuesday to begin the massive task of educating millions of Californians about the new healthcare law. The grants will go to 48 organizations, including universities, nonprofit groups, health foundations and unions. They will help state officials explain the new benefits, show people how to access insurance, and encourage small businesses to enroll. Covered California's executive director, Peter Lee, said Tuesday that getting the word out will require collaboration and partnership across the state.

At the root of California's dysfunctional politics lie some old ideas about who we are as a state. Demographics have been more volatile here than in other states, and many Californians older than 55, who make up roughly 46% of state voters, don't want to pay for changes they never welcomed. The tragedy is that they are battling problems that have largely dissipated. The outlook for California going forward from 2012 is very different from what it was two decades ago. Take population growth.

I remember life before the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. I grew up in Altadena and Pasadena during the late 1930s and '40s. All too often I awoke to thick smog and air quality warnings. I watched as segments of the San Gabriel Valley shifted from orange groves to miles upon miles of housing, and communities were cut in half by an ever-expanding network of freeways. By 1970, Gov. Ronald Reagan and a Republican-led Legislature realized that something had to be done.

The most durable message from the Occupy Wall Street encampments across the nation is also the simplest: "We are the 99%. " But are the implications of that message fair? Is there a widening gap between rich and poor? Are those doing well just a fraction of the populace? In the nation, and particularly in California, the answer is yes. We are living in an era of widening inequality, with income gains concentrated at the top, and most families in the state are falling behind. New research from the California Budget Project examined data from the Franchise Tax Board and found that income gains during the last two decades were overwhelmingly concentrated among California's wealthy.

The federal healthcare law will help cause insurance premiums to rise 30% on average for many middle-income Californians next year, but lower-income consumers could save up to 84%, a new government report says. Covered California, the state agency that commissioned the report issued Thursday, said federal subsidies and decreases in out-of-pocket medical expenses should offset most of the higher premiums for people buying their own health coverage. Officials said about 570,000 Californians who have annual incomes between 250% and 400% of the federal poverty line and have individual policies now will pay 47% less, on average, due to federal subsidies.

Re "There's no excuse for hoarded cash," Column, Aug. 2 George Skelton blames the governor and his predecessors for the "hoarded cash" in the state's various special funds. The blame, rather, lies with California voters, who were persuaded by interest groups (highway contractors, crime victims, casinos and many others) to set up many of these special funds (there are more than 500 total) dedicated to fund these special activities. In other words, California's vaunted initiative process has destroyed any semblance of rational budgeting.

Californians are more optimistic about the state economy and their own finances, although Bay Area residents are decidedly more upbeat than people in and around Los Angeles, according to a new survey. Almost two-thirds of Californians say their personal finances are improving, 52% think the state's economy is on the mend and 51% believe the jobs picture is brightening, according to the Citibank survey. Overall, according to the survey, nearly half of California residents say 2012 will be a better year than 2011.

SACRAMENTO -- For eight years, a San Francisco-based nonprofit called Next 10 has created an online simulation where users can try to balance California's budget. This year's version may be the easiest one yet. “This is the first year in many years where we're not starting out with a huge deficit," said F. Noel Perry, the venture capitalist who founded Next 10. The organization, entering its 10th year, examines financial, economic and environmental issues in California.  Gov. Jerry Brown says the state's deficit has been wiped out and the state will see surpluses in the coming years.

Re "On the road to sanity in licensing," Column, Sept. 5 Anyone from Britain, France or elsewhere in Europe who visits this country can obtain an international driving permit from his country and drive in this country for as long as his visa permits. Is there not some way to grant this courtesy to those who come here, do so much for us and who are so willing to work? Mexicans doubtless remember that California was part of Mexico and was taken from their ancestors by methods that cannot bear the light of day. They as well as we are a proud people and deserve to be a part of California, as they were and have been for hundreds of years.

Re "UC takes fewer state seniors," April 19 As the parent of a hardworking high school sophomore, I find it very disheartening and shortsighted for the University of California system to increasingly favor out-of-state students at the expense of residents. It would be interesting to know how many of those non-Californians stay here after graduation so our state benefits from what they have learned. Short of reversing this trend, might I suggest the following: Allow California students the option to submit an additional application noting their willingness to pay out-of-state tuition ($36,000)

SACRAMENTO - A rescue effort is underway for the state's financially troubled unemployment insurance program, an economic lifeline that currently provides weekly monetary support for 525,000 jobless Californians. More than $10 billion in the red, the unemployment insurance fund has been spiraling toward bankruptcy in recent years, even as it continues to provide weekly jobless benefits of as much as $450 for job seekers. Video chat: Sequester to hit jobless benefits Unemployment, as it's best known, is a primary element of the state's economic safety net. Funded by employer taxes, it's been providing jobless benefits since 1935.

The chances of California high school seniors gaining admission to the University of California worsened this year as more of them applied and the share of those who were accepted dropped by 2.2%, according to data released Thursday. At the same time, the ranks of out-of-state and international students accepted to UC continued to rise. Overall, a record 99,132 Californians applied to UC for freshman admission in the fall and 60,089 of them, or 60.6%, were accepted by at least one of the system's nine undergraduate campuses.

With its giant volume of applications from around the state and world, UCLA is once again the toughest UC campus to crack for students who want to enroll in the fall as a freshman. According to statistics released Thursday, UCLA offered fall 2013 admission to only 17.4% of California residents who applied and to 20.1% of its overall applicants, including those from other states and nations. As it has for several years, UCLA attracted the most freshman applications -- 80,494 this time -- of any public university in the nation, campus officials said.

At least two Californians were wounded in the Boston Marathon blasts that killed three and left more than 176 wounded, including a Redondo Beach man and a boy from Martinez. Katherine Hern, of Martinez in Northern California, posted on Facebook on Monday night that her son Aaron was in intensive care with multiple cuts,  including a worrisome one on his left thigh that may keep him in the hospital for surgeries over the next seven to 10 days. His father said most of the blast hit him on the left side of his body.

A new report shows that 53% of Californians get their health insurance through work, down from 62% in 2000. About 17.6 million state residents received employer health benefits in 2011, nearly 1.3 million fewer than a decade earlier. The report issued Thursday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also shows that the premiums for family coverage through work shot up 146% over the same period to $14,828 annually in California. "Higher costs naturally translate into fewer employers offering insurance coverage, and fewer employees accepting it, even when it is offered," said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, the foundation's president.

Re "Obama's lead in California remains solid," USC Dornsife / Times Poll, May 29 It takes a long time, sometimes never, for people to wake up to reality. First, we elected an incompetent governor in Arnold Schwarzenegger. Then we follow that by electing Jerry Brown, and our deficit still soars. We continue to elect state Senate and Assembly members interested more in their careers than in running the state. We reelect Sen. Barbara Boxer, who lacks much influence in the Senate despite her seniority.

Some Republicans still cling to the hope that they'll be able to repeal Obamacare someday, but a report released Wednesday by Families USA shows why it may be even harder for them to do so after Jan. 1. The report estimates that nearly 3 million Californians could be eligible for generous insurance subsidies under the 2010 healthcare reform law, starting next year. Anyone with an income between one and four times the federal poverty line -- in other words, between $23,550 and $94,200 for a family of four -- could receive a tax credit that reduces monthly premiums dramatically.

State Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) announced Thursday that he will run for California secretary of state in 2014, joining what looks to be shaping up as a crowded field that includes other current and former lawmakers. Padilla, 40, was elected to the state Senate in 2006 and must leave the upper house because of term limits next year. "The strength of our democracy depends on the active involvement of all of our citizens," Padilla said in a statement. "Last November, more than 10 million Californians did not vote.

Some Republicans still cling to the hope that they'll be able to repeal Obamacare someday, but a report released Wednesday by Families USA shows why it may be even harder for them to do so after Jan. 1. The report estimates that nearly 3 million Californians could be eligible for generous insurance subsidies under the 2010 healthcare reform law, starting next year. Anyone with an income between one and four times the federal poverty line -- in other words, between $23,550 and $94,200 for a family of four -- could receive a tax credit that reduces monthly premiums dramatically.