State Controller

In a rematch of their 2006 race, Democrat John Chiang, now the incumbent state controller, faces off against Republican state Sen. Tony Strickland. Voters should ask themselves whether budget-busted California would have been better off had the single-minded Strickland won last time and been responsible for issuing or withholding paychecks, keeping an eye on cash flow and auditing state functions. There are a lot of things the state should have done differently over the last four years, but choosing a different controller is not one of them; Chiang was the best choice then, and his generally good performance during the last four budget meltdowns makes him the best choice now. In a low-profile office, Chiang has done an admirable job of sharing financial data with the public and spotlighting the depth of the state's fiscal crisis.

Bell's finances have worsened considerably since its infamous corruption scandal, leaving the city unable to refund millions of dollars in taxes illegally levied on residents and businesses, an audit released Wednesday shows. The report by the state controller paints a troubling picture of the small southeast Los Angeles County city's efforts to recover from the 2010 scandal, which resulted in felony convictions against five former City Council members. The city's longtime city manager, Robert Rizzo, faces trial on corruption charges later this year.

The check is in the mail, says state Controller John Chiang. He began Friday resuming payment of state income tax refunds and other obligations that had been frozen last month when California ran out of cash. Chiang said the tax refund checks, cash grants for needy families and the elderly, blind and disabled, and grants for college students can be resumed now that the new state budget is replenishing state coffers.

SACRAMENTO -- With most statewide offices filled with first-term incumbents planning to run for reelection, 2014 holds a shortage of job opportunities for aspiring pols. But in the races that are open -- state controller and secretary of state -- candidates are beginning to jockey for position. Earlier this month, state Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) announced his candidacy for secretary of state. His colleague Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) has also announced a bid. Joining the two Democrats in the race is Pepperdine University's Pete Peterson, a registered Republican.

A prominent accounting firm's audits of Bell's city finances amounted to a "rubber-stamp," according to a state controller's study concluding that much of the alleged wrongdoing would have been detected earlier had the firm done its job. The long-awaited report is being closely watched because Mayer Hoffman McCann audits the books of dozens of government agencies in California and has 30 offices nationwide. Officials at several agencies, including California's public employee retirement board, have said they were awaiting the controller's study to help determine whether they would consider changes in their auditing contracts.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger filed a lawsuit Monday against state Controller John Chiang, aiming to force the unpaid furlough of 15,600 more state workers two days a month. The lawsuit, filed in Sacramento County Superior Court, seeks an injunction forcing the state controller to furlough employees of statewide elected officials such as the attorney general, the treasurer and Chiang.

Touting the state's booming economy to business people, State Controller Kathleen Connell will address the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce at a luncheon Sept. 25. Connell, who is eyeing a run for the governorship in 1998, will speak about the state's economy and outline her vision for California's future.

A week after election day, the race for state controller is undecided, with 34,038 votes separating Democrat Steve Westly from Republican Tom McClintock. With thousands of provisional and absentee ballots to be counted, Westly holds a tissue-thin lead over McClintock, 3,010,419 votes to 2,976,381. Some races for the Legislature are also undecided, including the contest for a Senate seat in the San Joaquin and Salinas valleys between Republican Jeff Denham and Democrat Rusty Areias.

Stephanie Silva is just five years older than the Manual Arts High School students she teaches, but she is passionate about making a difference in their lives. The Cal State Northridge political science graduate joined Teach for America last year, underwent five weeks of training and attends night school for her full credential while teaching science to students who are struggling with English and learning disabilities. But interns like Silva will be allowed to teach students struggling with English only under stricter state controls over their training and supervision, the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing unanimously decided Thursday.

Last month, state officials fired SAP Public Services, the contractor working on a troubled, $373-million upgrade of the payroll system for public employees. Now they will look for a new contractor to review what went wrong and determine if any of the work can be saved. It's a process that could take more than a year, further delaying an already overdue project. A spokesman for the state controller, which is overseeing the upgrade, said an independent assessment is necessary. "The results will not only identify design flaws and what is salvageable, but also tell us if the SAP platform will work and what are the most viable, cost-efficient options for delivering a payroll system that can meet the state's business needs," said the spokesman, Jacob Roper.

Although the next statewide election is nearly two years away, some groups are already lining up behind candidates who may face tough political battles. Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose) has locked up early endorsements from President Obama and others in an effort to stifle a potential challenge from fellow Democrat Ro Khanna. And Emily's List, a national group that promotes women to run for political office, announced its backing of Atty. Gen Kamala Harris' reelection bid and Betty Yee, who is running for state controller.

First the good news: The state controller says the cost of providing healthcare to retired public employees did not rise as fast as expected. Now the bad news: Over the next three decades, the bill is expected to be $63.84 billion more than Sacramento has set aside to pay for it, and state officials don't have a clear plan to cover those costs. The updated figures were released Thursday by state Controller John Chiang. "The current pay-as-we-go model of funding retiree health benefits is shortsighted and a recipe for undermining the fiscal health of future generations of Californians," Chiang said in a statement.

SACRAMENTO -- State finance officials caught accounting discrepancies at the California parks department as far back as 1999, but the issue was not resolved until it mushroomed into an embarrassing scandal last year, according to a new audit released Thursday.  The audit  also described other loose practices at state parks: Parks and Recreation Department officials haven't tracked costs and spending for individual parks, and base operating estimates...

SACRAMENTO - More than a decade before California's parks department became enveloped in financial scandal, state officials discovered accounting problems there, according to an audit released Thursday. Still, the department was able to continue hiding millions of dollars for years. Moreover, officials don't have a clear picture of how much each park costs - they track expenses by districts with multiple properties - and rely on outdated budget metrics, the review found. Assemblywoman Beth Gaines (R-Rocklin)

California raked in far more tax money than expected last month, according to a report from the state controller, who tracks the state's cash flow. Total revenue was $4.3 billion higher than the latest projections from Gov. Jerry Brown's administration, giving the state its best numbers for any January in the last decade,  the report said . "It signals that California may be entering an era where we can govern outside of crisis," Controller John Chiang said in a statement.

SACRAMENTO - Managers at the California parks department circumvented payroll policies and boosted salaries improperly, the state controller said Tuesday. Controller John Chiang said the payouts were made with "deliberate disregard for internal controls, along with little oversight and poorly trained staff. When security protocols and authorization requirements so easily can be overridden, it invites the abuse of public funds. " Chiang said that bad record keeping in the department made it impossible to determine a total for the amount of money improperly paid.