California's expectations of just how much money Facebook's looming IPO will generate for state coffers got a a boost: The Legislative Analyst estimates it likely will bring in $2.1 billion through the middle of next year -- a nice piece of change and about the only good budget news we've heard lately. And cash will keep coming through the next few fiscal years.
From the Office of the Legislative Analyst: "Our updated Facebook revenue forecasts now assume a $38 IPO share price, which would rise to $45 in six months, with additional share price growth in later years. We estimate that this would result in $2.1 billion of General Fund revenue collections over the next 13 months, of which about $500 million would be attributed to 2011-12 and about $1.6 billion to 2012-13."
"Of the $2.1 billion over the two fiscal years, about $500 million would be generated as a result of the proposed higher tax rates under the Governor's tax initiative, and $1.6 billion would be generated under current law."
"Principally because we assume that a large 60-million-share options transaction referenced in recent versions of the prospectus will occur in 2014, we also estimate the receipt of about $650 million of Facebook-related revenue in 2013-14, with about $150 million more in 2014-15 and small additional amounts in the tens of millions of dollars per year through 2016-17. (The administration’s estimates do not appear to account for this 60-million-share options transaction. While we have attributed revenues from this transaction to the 2013-14 fiscal year, it could occur earlier and boost 2012-13 revenues above our estimate by several hundred million dollars.)"
Speaking of the budget, the numbers may vary, but Gov. Brown's budget battles are deja vu all over again: He's plagued by the same problems that bedeviled his predecessors.
From the LAT's Nicholas Riccardi and Chris Megerian: "Jerry Brown told voters he was different — that only he, a septuagenarian government veteran with no aspirations to higher office, could fix the cycle of swelling budget deficits that has plagued California for more than a decade."
"But the release of Brown's updated budget plan Monday shows that he is being trapped by the same partisanship and dysfunction that hobbled his predecessors when they tried to repair the state's finances. "No governor, under the system we have in California, really has the ability to deal with the mess we've created," said Mark Paul, a former deputy state treasurer and the coauthor of a book about the state's financial quandary. "This is the third governor in a row who has run up against the same problem."
"Brown is stuck between Republicans who refuse tax hikes,Democrats who resist cuts and a tangle of special interests and voter-mandated budget requirements that make it politically easier to push the problem down the road. That's what Brown has started to do."
Legislation to help homeowners through the recession isn't getting a warm reception from the bankers, who contend it will lead to myriad court fights.
From Andrew Edwards at the San Bernardino Sun: "The bankers and other industry representatives spoke in Sacramento before a special panel of lawmakers assigned to craft new mortgage and foreclosure laws."
"They told lawmakers they are open to some reforms, such as policies favoring a single point of contact for homeowners navigating loan workouts."
"The bankers, however, maintained a united front against the possibility that new legislation may give homeowners a right to sue banks who fail to meet new standards. Taken together, their testimony centered on concerns that stricter laws may swamp banks with lawsuits, delay legitimate foreclosures and create a difficult layer of new regulations."
As hundreds of redevelopment agencies bite the dust, the people charged with overseeing the closures may not be up to handling the job.
From Kendall Taggart at the Bay Citizen: "With billions of dollars at stake, school district representatives charged with overseeing the shutdown of about 400 redevelopment agencies may be underprepared."
"Seven-member local oversight boards consisting of representatives from K-14 districts, the county, the city and special districts are now responsible for vetting decisions about how the former agencies will be dismantled and how the property taxes that previously went to redevelopment will be spent."
"But some observers are concerned that many school district representatives are not well equipped to review the complex contracts and financial arrangements left in redevelopment’s wake."
Where you live determines your health -- a concept that is getting increasingly more traction. HealthyCal's Mary Flynn takes a look.
"As healthycal.org recently reported, for instance, researchers have found that stress can get under your skin and that violence can alter a child’s DNA. The poorest counties in California have the worst health, while the richest, generally, have the best."
"This series of info-graphics looks at the stressors identified by residents in one low-income, high-crime area in the city of Hayward in Alameda County. The Jackson Triangle neighborhood recently won a “Promise grant” from the federal government as part of a program intended to improve the life chances of Jackson Triangle residents."
"The grant is significant: only five were awarded in this first round, and the Hayward group beat out more than 200 other organizations in 45 states for this grant (more will be awarded at the end of 2012)."
And now, from our "Homework Assignment" file comes tale of the guy who is accused of assaulting a federal officer and trying to sell a grenade launcher. He was freed on bail -- as long as he writes book reports.
"The men pulled guns on the undercover agent and attempted to rob him, but fellow agents joined him and Hutcherson was shot and wounded by an agent."
"U.S. Magistrate Judge Kandis Westmore ruled April 23 for Mobley to be released on $150,000 bond and wear an ankle monitor with GPS tracking. Prosecutors appealed the ruling, saying Mobley is a flight risk, but U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers upheld the bond ruling Monday."
"Rogers said a condition of Mobley's bond requires him to spend an hour reading books every day and at least a half an hour writing book reports."
Start with the Hound of the Baskervilles. You'll love it....
