Governor Brown's budget and pension reform. FilmWeek – Egyptian Theatre Oscar preview. Larry and KPCC's FilmWeek critics shared the stage and their Oscar opinions at the 9th Annual Oscar Preview event. TGI-FilmWeek!
Governor Brown to voters and lawmakers – approve tax extensions or expect $25-billion in cuts
State budget talks are heating up in California. Governor Jerry Brown told legislators Thursday that he will hold out for a budget that cuts more than $25-billion if voters and lawmakers don’t agree to extend billions in income, sales and vehicle taxes. But without some Republican support, voters might never get a chance to vote on Brown’s budget proposal. Republicans want changes to the public pension system before being willing to consider taxes. They got a boost yesterday from the bipartisan Little Hoover Commission. The non-partisan watchdog agency issued a report calling for a freeze of pension benefits for current public employees, a cap on future pensions and an increase of the retirement age for some state workers. For the first time, Governor Brown seemed willing to deal on the pensions issue as part of the budget negotiations. Does the state have the authority to change the pension terms for current government workers? Should Brown make a pension deal to get GOP support for his budget proposals?
Guests:
Stuart Drown, Executive Director of the Little Hoover Commission - which just released a report recommending that California state and local governments roll back pensions for existing employees and get rid of guaranteed retirement payouts.
Fran Pavley, CA State Senator, Democrat, representing Senate District 23 - including portions of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties in the California Legislature
Don Wagner, California assemblyman, R-Irvine, representing the 70th Assembly District)
FilmWeek’s Oscar preview from the Egyptian Theatre
AirTalk rolled out the red carpet at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood for our 9th annual Academy Awards Preview show. Larry and KPCC's FilmWeek critics Andy Klein, Lael Loewenstein, Wade Major, Claudia Puig, Peter Rainer, Henry Sheehan, Charles Solomon, and Tim Cogshell talked about the best movies of the year and which ones should take home the gold. Will “The King’s Speech” sweep this year’s Oscars? Do any other films have a shot at winning Best Picture? What films might get snubbed this season?
Guests:
Andy Klein, film critic for KPCC and Brand X
Lael Loewenstein, film critic for KPCC
Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and boxoffice.com
Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and USA Today
Peter Rainer, film critic for KPCC and Christian Science Monitor
Henry Sheehan, film critic for KPCC and henrysheehan.com
Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation critic, author and historian for amazon.com
Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC and Box Office Magazine