Moorlach is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Accountability
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** Former state Senator John Moorlach joins CPC as director of the Center for Public Accountability
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Dear John,
Former California state Senator John Moorlach has joined California Policy Center (CPC) as senior fellow and director of CPC’s Center for Public Accountability.
“I’ve known John as a friend, a finance whiz and principled leader since Ronald Reagan’s second term,” said CPC president Will Swaim. “His consistent approach to fiscal conservatism in state and local government has earned him wide respect — except among government union leaders who have found in John a straight-shooting and implacable opponent of unrestrained government spending.”
“Reporters, government officials, and taxpayers appreciate John’s financial expertise. He’s a rare talent, and he brings recognized authority to CPC’s work to help Californians measure the health of their state and local governments,” Swaim said.
At CPC’s Center for Public Accountability, John joins VP of Government Affairs Lance Christensen, senior fellows Mark Moses and Edward Ring, and Research Manager Sheridan Swanson.
Trained as a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Financial Planner, Moorlach began his career in public service in 1994 when he warned that then Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. “Bob” Citron’s risky investment strategies would imperil the county’s finances.
Moorlach’s warnings proved prophetic: In December 1994, Orange County filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, then the largest municipal bankruptcy and portfolio loss in U.S. history. He was quickly appointed the county Treasurer-Tax Collector in 1995 and was re-elected three times.
In 2006, voters elected John to serve the first of two terms on the Board of Supervisors, where he continued his work to reform the county’s budget practices. There, he sounded the alarm on the county’s growing unfunded liabilities. Among other innovations, John assisted in implementing new defined-benefit pension plan formulas years before Governor Jerry Brown included this strategy in his Public Employee Pension Reform Act of 2012 (PEPRA). He also assisted in restructuring the county’s retiree medical (other post-employment benefits), reducing the county’s liability by some $1 billion and reducing the annual required contribution by some $100 million per year.
From 2015 to 2020, Moorlach served as the state senator for the 37th Senate district.
Life post-Senate has allowed Moorlach to continue with a hobby that would terrify most: analyzing and rating state and local government finance. He admits it’s an odd labor of love.
“When I left the state Senate, I didn’t even pump the brakes,” Moorlach said. “I continued to review legislative bills, offered my opinion — and, sure, I kept looking over government finances.”
His current analysis has identified several troubled cities, as well as cities that haven’t reported their finances at all — a violation of state law. Even the state of California’s numbers are MIA, Moorlach says.
“Californians deserve to know that their state is operating without basic, legally required financial reports,” Moorlach says. “The politicians don’t even know how much trouble they’re in.”
Watch John Moorlach in action on California Insider below.
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** How California's Counties are Performing Financially & Why it Matters
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Don’t miss this 10-minute highlight of John Moorlach’s interview on California Insider, “How California’s Counties are Performing Financially, and Why it Matters.” ([link removed]) John sits down with host Siyamak Khorrami to discuss his latest analysis of how California's counties and cities are doing financially, and why the state is late in providing up-to-date reports. John found 55 out of 58 counties are running balance sheets that are currently "upside down" — they have greater liabilities than they can pay. And, the tardy financial reporting means "the legislature and the governor are signing budgets without even having solid financial data on how their state is running." You can watch the full interview on Epoch TV here ([link removed]) .
New Podcasts ()
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** Radio Free California #305: Hammer and Sicko
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On this week's podcast with CPC president Will Swaim and CPC board member David Bahnsen: San Francisco bathes before dinner with Xi. A secret history of rebuilding the Santa Monica Freeway. Defense attorneys say Paul Pelosi’s attacker was motivated by far-right conspiracy theories. What to make of anti-Israel violence outside Los Angeles’s Museum of Tolerance. Listen now. ([link removed])
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** Finally, the Podcast from Fertik
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CPC president Will Swaim joins Michael Fertik on his Finally podcast to discuss Will's political evolution from a "nearly lifelong Marxist" to the biggest thorn in the side of California's public-sector unions. Hear why and how Will got there. Listen now. ([link removed])
** Quote of the Week
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"I know folks say, 'Oh, they're just cleaning up this place because all those fancy leaders are coming into town.' That's true because it's true." — Gov. Gavin Newsom on San Francisco cleaning up its homeless encampments because China's Xi Jinping and Joe Biden were visiting
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