Herb Morgan – California Globe

Asymmetric Pension Smoothing: A Prudent Reform to Strengthen CalPERS and CalSTRS Funded Ratios

June 26, 2026 8:00 amJune 26, 2026 8:01 am

Public pension systems in California, particularly CalPERS and CalSTRS, face persistent challenges in achieving full funding despite periodic strong investment returns. With CalPERS’ funded ratio recently improving to approximately 79% following solid market performance, meaningful structural reforms are essential to...

Free IDs for All: A Modest Investment in Election Integrity That Billionaires and Sacramento Can Afford

June 9, 2026 9:00 amJune 9, 2026 9:44 pm

California’s election system relies on self-attestation of citizenship under penalty of perjury. Proponents of the status quo, including organizations like the Brennan Center for Justice, assert that non-citizen voting is exceedingly rare. Yet when simple, verifiable proof of citizenship or...

Strengthening Fiscal Oversight of California’s Cannabis Tax Revenue

May 28, 2026 6:00 amMay 28, 2026 6:01 am

California has collected more than $7.87 billion in cannabis-related tax revenue since recreational sales began in January 2018. As a candidate for State Controller, I view this figure not through the lens of policy debates on legalization, but through the...

California High-Speed Rail: A Textbook Case of Fiscal Failure Under Controller Malia Cohen

May 21, 2026 6:00 amMay 21, 2026 6:01 am

California’s long-troubled High-Speed Rail project stands as one of the most expensive and least accountable boondoggles in state history. What began as a 2008 voter-approved promise of an 800-mile network for roughly $33 billion has shrunk to a 171-mile Merced-to-Bakersfield...

Classrooms First: California Must Stop Feeding Bureaucracy and Start Funding Teachers and Students

April 8, 2026 9:00 amApril 8, 2026 9:01 am

California pours enormous resources into public education from Transitional Kindergarten through community college, the TK-14 system. Proposition 98 guarantees roughly $125.5 billion in recent years for TK-12 and community colleges, with total TK-12 spending (all sources) approaching $149 billion annually....

Insurance Companies Aren’t Fleeing California – They’re Being Driven Out by a State That Refuses to Do Its Job

April 7, 2026 1:21 pmApril 7, 2026 1:21 pm

California is the world’s fourth-largest economy, a magnet for every industry that values growth, innovation, and customers. Insurance companies are no exception. They are sophisticated financial powerhouses staffed with armies of lawyers, accountants, and actuaries who know how to price...

California’s $435 Billion Fraud Epidemic: The Feds Are Acting—Why Isn’t the State Controller?

April 3, 2026 8:00 amApril 3, 2026 9:38 am

California is once again making national headlines for all the wrong reasons. Just this week, federal authorities in Los Angeles executed “Operation Never Say Die,” arresting eight people—including hospice owners, nurses, and medical professionals—in a brazen scheme that allegedly bilked...