Sacramento Bee

Five hundred million dollars is a lot of money -- especially for a public university. When the giant oil company BP announced Feb. 1 that it had chosen the University of California, Berkeley, to lead the largest academic-industry research consortium in U.S. history, University of California officials appeared giddy.

If the deal is approved, BP, formerly known as British Petroleum, will give $500 million over 10 years to create a multidisciplinary Energy Biosciences Institute at UC Berkeley. Berkeley would partner with… more

The alliance between the oil giant BP and the University of California, Berkeley, stands out because of its $500 million price tag, its commercial scope and the potential for BP to exert excessive influence over the academic research. But it isn’t an isolated case.

The second largest such partnership is a 10-year, $225-million deal Stanford University signed with Exxon Mobil and other energy firms in 2002 to fund a Global Climate and Energy Project.

The Stanford deal was controversial from the… more

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a political conference Thursday that it may cost California money to advance its presidential primary by four months, but that the campaign has the potential to bring more federal dollars to the state."We can turn $60 million into billions and billions of dollars," the Republican governor said during the conference at a Sacramento hotel. "It's the greatest investment California ever can make."Schwarzenegger said that after ignoring California for more than three decades,… more

Two seemingly unrelated developments last week tell us a lot about immigration and the public's attitude toward it.One was the conservative reaction to a bill introduced in the Legislature that would give a $500 savings account to every child born in California.The other was a study by the Public Policy Institute of California concluding that immigration -- legal and illegal -- tends to increase wages for everyone except earlier immigrants.The savings bill was introduced… more

Happy birthday, baby, here's $500 -- courtesy of California taxpayers.Legislation announced Wed- nesday would provide a tax-free, long-term investment account to every baby born in California, regardless of the parents' financial or immigration status.Senate Bill 752 is meant to persuade more families to invest for the future. "If we ask people to invest in California, California must invest in its people," said Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, who is co-authoring the bill with Republican Sen. Bob… more

When the California Working Families Policy Summit convenes Thursday in the Sacramento Convention Center, a familiar list of topics -- child care, after-school programs, cash assistance -- will dominate the agenda. These critical programs help families get by. What will be missing are bold proposals to help them get ahead.

The California Center for Research on Women and Families is sponsoring the summit for legislators and their staffs, administrative officials and other civic leaders to discuss public policy issues for this… more

Political reforms such as redistricting reform and campaign finance reform have foundered at the ballot box in recent years, rejected by voters in several states. But another political reform, instant runoff voting, has quietly racked up impressive victories.

Instant runoff voting (IRV), which allows voters to rank their candidates 1, 2, 3, made great strides forward during the November 7, 2006 elections.

Voters in four different jurisdictions overwhelmingly approved ballot measures for IRV. In California, voters in Oakland approved the idea with… more

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday proposed a sweeping overhaul of the way health care is purchased and delivered in California that would mandate new contributions from employers, individuals, health plans, health care providers and the government...The governor's proposal would shift costs so the insured are not paying higher premiums to offset the costs of treating uninsured patients who flood emergency rooms when they get sick. Those costs boost premiums for the insured as much as 10 percent, according… more

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted to build public support for his eagerly awaited health care overhaul, he turned to a study by the New America Foundation.

The report, released recently by the nonpartisan [New America Foundation], concluded that the average family in California pays a $1,200 "hidden tax" to subsidize health care for the uninsured.

Never mind that Families USA, a liberal advocacy group, released a similar study in 2005. The Schwarzenegger … more

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger preaches "shared responsibility" as the secret to bringing health insurance to millions of Californians who don't have it today, he might take a look at San Francisco, where the city is busy creating a program that promises to follow that very principle.

Hoping to provide care for more than 80,000 residents who are going without coverage, San Francisco has adopted a plan that asks individuals, employers and, in some cases, health care providers to be part of… more