Expanding Savings and Retirement Security
California Asset Program Event
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
12:00pm -1:30pm
Every day, six million Californians, or roughly 43 percent of workers in the state, go to work for an employer that does not provide any type of retirement pension or savings plan. This lack of retirement savings opportunities puts California working families at risk. On Thursday, May 22, Mark Iwry of the Brookings Institution will present on the current retirement savings crisis in America -- its causes and the continuing effect it will have on the financial security of working families as well as the state and national economy. Mr. Iwry will also discuss state and national policy options to significantly encourage retirement savings and the accumulation of assets by lower- and middle-income workers. More
Throw Out the Tax Code
By Mark Paul, New America Foundation
Los Angeles Times | April 20, 2008
Politicians don't like to talk about taxes except to brag about cutting them. But with California's widening budget deficit threatening deep cuts in education and other public services, it's difficult to avoid discussions about raising taxes.
Unfortunately, what's likely to be lost in the upcoming partisan melee over whether new taxes are needed to close the $16-billion gap is an equally important tax issue -- California's aging and often unfair tax system needs to be overhauled. More
New America Foundation Praises New, Universal, Portable Retirement Savings Proposal
On Tuesday, April 8th, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Member Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) unveiled a proposal to give California workers access to a low-cost, professionally managed retirement account. “We applaud Governor Schwarzenegger and Assembly Member De Leon’s bipartisan leadership” said Olivia Calderon, California Legislative Director of New America’s Asset Building Program. “Too many hardworking Californians don’t have access to a work based retirement savings plan. This is an incredible opportunity for California to show the rest of the nation how to use existing tools to help workers build their savings for retirement and other family needs so that they can retire with financial security.” More
California Asset Event
Financial Literacy - Need, Strategy, Opportunity
On Thursday, April 17th, 2008 Ellen Seidman, Director of New America's Financial Services and Education Project, presented on the importance of financial literacy for both individual households and the broader macroeconomy. Click here for more information on this event.
About Us
California has long been the nation’s leading laboratory of democracy, setting trends for the country as a whole and providing a testing ground for new policy ideas. New America has established a substantial presence in California, with the dual purpose of introducing cutting-edge solutions to the state’s foremost challenges and of enriching the quality of California’s public debate.
California today is undergoing unprecedented change, driven by rapid population growth, increasing ethnic diversity and new patterns of economic activity. These changes place enormous pressure on the state’s budget, schools, housing and infrastructure, as well as on California’s system of governance, which is in urgent need of reform.
Thanks to support from the James Irvine Foundation, New America has launched a multifaceted program to address these daunting problems. New America’s California Program appoints seven California-based Fellows per year, and houses New America’s Political Reform Program. In addition, it pursues state-specific initiatives in conjunction with New America’s national Asset Building, Education and Health Policy Programs, in each case crafting innovative solutions that can overcome California’s polarized, political debate.
New America’s staff and Fellows are regularly invited to brief California’s Governor, key legislators and their staff. This has led to the introduction of several pieces of important, bipartisan legislation. Meanwhile, our California-based staff and Fellows have published hundreds of articles in all of the state’s leading publications, contributing fresh ideas for meeting California’s most pressing public needs.
A more-detailed program description is available here.
Articles
| Article | Date |
|---|---|
| Switch To Español | May 11, 2008 |
| Dialogue Isn't the Last Word | May 5, 2008 |
| Schwarzenegger-Shriver: Protecting the Brand | May 4, 2008 |
| Confessions Of a Sweatshop Inspector | April 29, 2008 |
| Cracks In the Foundation | April 24, 2008 |
| Dusting Off a Managing Tome | April 24, 2008 |
| The Joe Lunch Bucket Strategy | April 21, 2008 |
| Throw Out the Tax Code | April 20, 2008 |
| Absolut Canard | April 14, 2008 |
| Arnold vs. Arnold | April 13, 2008 |
Policy Papers
| Title | Date |
|---|---|
| Lessons From California's Health Reform Efforts For the National Debate | March 2008 |
| The California Assets and Transaction Account | February 2008 |
| Coverage Without Gaps | September 2007 |
| What Your Car Can Teach You About Health Reform | July 2007 |
| Growing Support for Shared and Personal Responsibility in Health Care | June 2007 |
| Estimating the 'Hidden Tax' on Insured Californians Due to the Care Needed and Received by the Uninsured | May 2007 |
| Instant Runoff Voting | February 2007 |
| An Energy Efficiency Trading System | February 2007 |
| A Premium Price | December 2006 |
| Automatic Voter Registration | November 2006 |
Events
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| CA Event: Expanding Savings and Retirement Security | May 21, 2008 |
| CA Event: Instant Runoff Voting and Minorities in L.A. | April 19, 2008 |
| CA Event: Financial Literacy - Need, Strategy, Opportunity | April 17, 2008 |
| Understanding the Bin Ladens (San Francisco) | April 15, 2008 |
| CA Event: Banking the Unbanked | March 26, 2008 |
| California Health Reform: Lessons for the Nation | March 7, 2008 |
| CA Event: Balancing California’s Checkbook | February 28, 2008 |
| CA Event: How Do/Should We Tax? | February 27, 2008 |
| California Event: The Savings Crisis | February 14, 2008 |
| California's California | January 31, 2008 |
Press
Staff and Fellows
California Program
Political Reform Program
Asset Building Program
|
Fellows
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Click on any name above for more information.
How Do/How Should We Tax?
Tax Reform for California's New Economy
Wednesday, February 27, 2008California has a tax system largely fixed in place during the Great Depression, in an industrial economy-setting unconcerned with environmental sustainability. Two questions about this tax system are posed here: First, can California find ways to raise the revenue it needs in the 21st century that are a better fit with our high-tech, service-based economy than is the current system? Second, can California's tax/fee structure be used to meet the state's greenhouse gas emissions under its AB 32 guidelines? The New America Foundation and the University of California Center hosted this half day conference in Sacramento. Experts discussing these pressing questions included amongst others: Steve Sheffrin Dean of Social Sciences at UC Davis, Annette Nellen , Professor of Accounting and Finance at San Jose State University and Irvine Fellow at New America, Jim Hawley, Vice President & General Counsel at TechNet, and Lenny Goldberg, Executive Director of the California Tax Reform Association. For documents provided at this event and the audio recording click here.
Balancing California's Checkbook
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Once again, California is facing a budget crisis -- but this is nothing new. The state has faced fiscal difficulties for over 30 years, problems magnified by initiative limitations, competing political objectives, and population growth. Fortunately, today we have bipartisan awareness about the structural nature of the state’s fiscal dysfunction and the need for long-term solutions. Our panel of seasoned political experts will discuss budgetary lessons learned and provide insight into the best course for California’s future.
For documents provided at this event and the audio recording click here.
