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blog post

Do Californians Trust Government to Do What Is Right?

By Deja Thomas

Californians are divided on trusting the state government, with nearly half saying they trust it just about always or most of the time. Californians tend to express less trust in the federal government.

Statewide Survey

PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government

By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Sonja Petek, Nicole Willcoxon

Some findings of the current survey:

  • Meg Whitman leads Jerry Brown 44% to 39% among likely voters in the race for governor and Brown is favored over Poizner, 46% to 31%.
  • Incumbent Barbara Boxer is in a close race with Carly Fiorina and Tom Campbell for her senate seat.
  • Approval for the state legislature’s job performance drops to 9%.
  • More Californians favor (50%) than oppose (45%) same-sex marriage.

Job Approval Ratings:
President Obama
[PDF]
Governor Schwarzenegger
[PDF]
California State Legislature
[PDF]
U.S. Congress
[PDF]
Job Approval Ratings for Their Own State Legislators in the Assembly and Senate
[PDF]
Job Approval Ratings for Their Own Representative in the U.S. House of Representatives
[PDF]

blog post

New Laws Expand Criminal Justice Reforms

By Brandon Martin, Justin Goss

The governor recently signed a number of bills that extend the state’s efforts to reform its adult and juvenile criminal justice system.

Report

School Finance

By Margaret Weston

There is broad consensus that California's school finance system is inequitable, inadequate, and overly complex. In response to these critiques, this year Governor Jerry Brown proposed an overhaul of our school finance system. Also, two initiatives on the November ballot asked voters to increase education funding through tax increases: voters approved Proposition 30, which was integral to the governor's budget plan, and rejected Proposition 38, a citizens' initiative.

Despite the passage of Proposition 30, California faces many school finance challenges. This report provides an overview of the state's school finance system and outlines some longstanding school finance issues that may be in play next year.

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