California State Capitol. (Photo: Kevin Sanders for California Globe)
NEW REPORT: California Ranks Among Bottom of 50 States for Financial Transparency
Californians are owed an unsparing report on the actual state of the State, offered by a serious governor
By Katy Grimes, April 23, 2024 9:52 am
In 2020, then-Senator John Moorlach, the Legislature’s only CPA, reported for the Globe that 49 of the 50 U.S. states had completed and published their annual audited financial statements – California was the only state which failed to complete and publish annual audited financial statements. This was not new – it was habitual.
And here we go again… a new report from Truth in Accounting finds that California ranks among bottom of 50 states for financial transparency.
Truth in Accounting explains that their transparency score for the financial reporting by state governments is to encourage the publication of transparent and accurate government financial information. (It’s not working here in California…)
“While there is a great deal of focus on state budgets, the results of those budgets are found in a government’s annual comprehensive financial report (ACFR). Certified public accountants audit this document produced annually by governments. The criteria used to develop our transparency score provide a ‘best practices’ framework for government officials and citizens that can be used to improve their government’s transparency and accountability. For forty five states, this report is based on fiscal year 2022 data. At the time the report’s research was completed 2022 data was not available for Arizona, California, Iowa, Oklahoma and Nevada, so 2021 data was used.”
Here are the top 5 states:
and the bottom 5 states:
One of the biggest issues contributing to poor State transparency scores were increased hidden retirement liabilities, including unfunded pension debt.
“A state’s Net Pension Liability is calculated by subtracting the market value of its pension systems’ investments from the estimated amount of promised benefits,” Truth in Accounting reports. “Unfortunately, 45 states reported Net Pension Liabilities for 2022 based on 2021 valuations. In 2021, strong investment markets increased the value of pension investments, resulting in a decrease in the Net Pension Liabilities.”
Here is the Criteria Truth in Accounting used:
To receive the top score of 100 points, a government’s annual report must meet the following criteria:
• Receive a clean opinion from an independent auditor (This criterion also applies to the annual report of thestate government’s largest pension plan.)
• Include a net position not distorted by misleading and confusing deferred items
• Report all retirement liabilities on its balance sheet (statement of net position)
• Be published within 100 days of the government’s fiscal year-end
• Be searchable with useful links from the table of contents and bookmarks
• Be audited by an independent
auditor who is not an employee of
the government (This criterion also applies to the annual report of the state government’s largest pension plan.)
• Measure the net pension liability using the same date as the annual report
As Sen. Moorlach said in 2020, his concern was that because of the lateness of the annual audited financial statement, the Legislature would not see the most recent CAFR until after they voted on the budget. “In fact, we were told by the State Controller’s Office that the CAFR may not be available until the month of September, a tardiness that is truly a national embarrassment.”
How is it that it is April 2024 and the 2022 certified annual audited financial statement wasn’t available for this transparency report? What about the Legislature and budget negotiations? Given that Gov. Newsom has not held his state of the state address, is this just Newsom demonstrating his lack of seriousness as California’s governor as his eye is on the Oval Office?
While it may not be good news, Californians are owed an unsparing report on the actual state of the State, delivered by a serious governor.
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A former governor of AZ and former Secretary of Homeland Security was responsible for fudging the books while president of the UC system. Who is ever held accountable? It’s a state of plausible deniability for criminals at taxpayer and voter expense.
UC audit interference 2019
https://www.sfchronicle.com/education/article/Executives-who-resigned-from-UC-were-involved-in-12343154.php
Part of the problem is the criminal Democrat mafia that controls the state’s finances and their stooges like Democrat Malia Cohen who was elected (or installed) as State Controller in 2022? As State Controller, Cohen has broad superintending authority over the accounting and disbursement of state and local government finances.
Cohen earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Fisk University and a graduate degree in political science from Carnegie Mellon University. Cohen worked as a field organizer for Gavin Newsom in the 2003 San Francisco mayoral election and as his confidential secretary for two years when he was mayor. In the 2010 election for District 10 of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, she was third in receiving first place votes out of a field of 22, but eventually won the election based on ranked choice voting. Cohen succeeded London Breed as president of the Board of Supervisors on June 26, 2018, following Breed’s election as mayor of San Francisco. Later that year, she was elected to represent District 2 on the California State Board of Equalization.
According to the California Franchise Tax Board, Cohen’s social media consulting firm, Power Forward, was suspended in March 2021 for failure to pay and file taxes. Cohen said that she could not remember why the license was suspended. “I cannot explain what happened there because I don’t recall,” Cohen said. “I filed a closure for that before — I think it was in 2019 — because Power Forward wasn’t in operation.” Later, through a campaign spokesperson, Cohen said the suspension came about after she missed mail because of an address change.
Cohen describes the foreclosure of her home as a traumatic experience that caused her a lot of embarrassment when it was brought up in her successful 2010 campaign for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She said the foreclosure bolstered her motivation to run for public office claiming that “I have learned from the experience and can coach and share my experience and talk to other people, and it has really made me a fierce advocate to hold corporations and banks accountable.”
How did this dingbat become State Controller? No doubt it was Democrat voter fraud and rigged voting machines?
No, it’s the Dems PURPOSEFUL destruction of our government system, by SYSTEMICALLY installing RANK INCOMPETENTS (see Su, Julie) in positions of governmental authority….