DB2
Personally Iām surprised anyone wants to be a teacher anymore. The pay isnāt great. The parents think you are just indoctrinating their children. There seem better ways to make a living than putting up with all that.
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The US average is $69K, and that is for a 9-10 month work year. Annualized, that is $87K (77th percentile of individual incomes).
DB2
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They may only be 1% of the tax returns, but according to the article they have over 20% of the taxable income in the state. Given a progressive tax rate, paying 40% of the taxes doesnāt seem outlandish to me.
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LOL. It isnāt for 9-10 months of work. You canāt āannualizeā their annual income like it was only a 10 month CD that you can reinvest for another 2 months.
If their average ANNUAL income is 69k, then it is 69k, not 87k.
And, if you ever want to know the state of teaching, just ask one if they would recommend that their children take up the profession.
Hawkwin
Married to a teacher who would likely divorce me if I claimed she only worked 9-10 months a year.
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From December:
New projections out this week after planning cuts:
The fiscal year beginning this July will bring a $245 million deficit, with a $555 million shortage expected the following year. If the city doesnāt take corrective action, according to forecasts, that shortage will grow to a nearly $1.4 billion deficit by 2027.
DB2
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In Illinois they are admitting to program limitations.
Promoting the taxpayer-funded $250 million Smart Start early childhood education initiative, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the state will have to balance such future spending with other pressures.
āAnd, if we donāt have enough resources for everything that everybody wants, what can we look to do in the future or what should we stop doing in order to make sure that weāre balancing expenditures with revenues,ā Pritzker said at an event in Rochester Thursdayā¦
The current budget includes $550 million for the health care subsidies for non-citizens in Illinois over the age of 42, but the projected annual cost from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services is $832.7 million. The Pritzker administration announced a freeze of new enrollees last year to help shore up those costs. Those costs are on top of around half-a-billion dollars in housing, food and other costs the stateās taxpayers have already incurred.
DB2
Heaven forbid we consider raising some taxes
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That has to be combined with restraint on spending. Living below your means at the macro level.
For example, Newsom became governor of California at the beginning of 2019, five years ago. In those five years state revenues have grown some 35%. The problem is that expenditures have gone up 60%. 
Whatās behind Californiaās skyrocketing spending and $68 billion deficit?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/what-s-behind-california-s-skyrocketing-spending-and-68-billion-deficit/ar-AA1lYXC9
DB2
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I am careful with things like that. People assume they can do more for more money. We live in a bureaucratic society. People, positions, and companies are not guaranteed to be worth anything one day. Sometimes can get more but often if someone ditches something shocker their economic or market value is nothing. Or very little.
I am working with an ex-state worker. She kept telling me she hated the state. She believes in merit systems. She is awfully bad at things. I bite my tongue.
It seems the deficit is really more than thatā¦
The biggest challenge facing lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom is the state budget deficit ā and it just got bigger.
Today, the Legislative Analystās Office projected the shortfall as $15 billion higher, or $73 billion.
DB2
In California they made all illegal aliens eligible for Medi-Cal. The the result wasā¦
- Gov. Gavin Newsom touted Californiaās role as the first state in the nation to offer healthcare to all income-eligible immigrants one year ago.
- The $9.5-billion price tag of Californiaās state-sponsored healthcare for undocumented immigrants is already more than $3 billion above the budget estimate from last summer and is expected to grow.
- Newsom and Democrats in the state Legislature are under pressure to reduce coverage to bring down costs as California experiences a budget crunch and the federal government is poised to cut federal funding.
Gov. JB Pritzker [of Illinois] proposed a $330-million budget cut last month to scale back an expansion of healthcare coverage for undocumented adult immigrants in Illinois, where a state audit found that services for certain age groups exceeded cost estimates by more than 280%.
California soon may face the same financial pressure to reduce coverage.
DB2
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Medicaid shortfall forces California to borrow $3.44B
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/12/california-medicaid-shortfall-00227904
California will need to borrow $3.44 billion to close a budget gap in the stateās Medicaid program, Newsom administration officials told lawmakers Wednesday in a letter obtained by POLITICO.
Thatās the maximum amount California can borrow, and will only be enough to cover bills for Medi-Cal ā the stateās Medicaid program ā through the end of the monthā¦
DB2
I predicted this years ago on the old TMF. By definition, any state/region that offers essentially āfreeā healthcare to everyone would not be able to afford it. Massive shift of people from other areas (in US or not) in order to get care they otherwise could not get. Which is why universal health care has to be a national program.
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That way, people from other countries that canāt get adequate care at home can simply come here and get the care they need in any state?
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Californiaās illegal immigration numbers have risen for three consecutive years, from approximately 260,000 in fiscal year 2021 to 362,000 and 450,000 in fiscal years 2022 and 2023
In addition, open borders are not economically compatible with a welfare state.
DB2
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I wonder if California pols are immune from āprotected free speechā? Or were they influenced by the farmers who want cheap illegal immigrant labor, but donāt want to pay for them being patched up, when they get hurt on the farm.
Steve
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Not generally, but on a case-by-case basis. The most important point being why did the person come to the US? Once legitimately in the US, then that person is eligible for health care.
We are literally discussing a case in which EVERYONE is eligible, legitimate or not. Besides, if a million people needing healthcare crossed the border illegally, or remained in the country after their visa expired, I highly doubt that you or anyone else will allow them to ādie in the streetā.
Once legitimately in the US, it works. Until then, there is no control. Or they get sent back āhomeā for the medical care neededāor their govt agrees to pay for the needed healthcare.