Kerry Jackson
California
Prop 57 Contains a Loophole for Violent Criminals
With violent crime increasing in California, it seems reasonable to grant early release to inmates convicted of nonviolent offenses to make room in the prison system for truly dangerous felons. Most of us would be happy to trade an accountant guilty of bilking his employer for a serial rapist. One ...
Business & Economics
CAPITAL IDEAS: Reforming California’s Pension System
California governments owe their current and future retirees maybe as much as $600 billion. But the governments aren’t going to pay. Taxpayers will be handed the bill, and in some cities, each household is on the hook for more than $50,000. In at least one municipality, the household share of ...
Business & Economics
Cigarette Tax Hike Initiative A Bridge Too Far
It seems there is a never-ending war on “sin” and a desire by some to try and tax it away. This includes higher taxes on snacks and cigarettes, among other items. As to the latter item, California voters will weigh in with a November ballot proposal to hike California’s cigarette ...
California
CAPITAL IDEAS: Reforming California’s Environmental Policies
The roots of California’s environmental regulations can be traced back to 1884. That’s the year a federal judge ordered miners to stop using water cannons to batter the Sierra hillsides to separate gold from the soil and rock, but also left behind a broken and ugly landscape.
California
Where’s the Passion for CEQA Reform?
The roots of California’s environmental regulations can be traced back to 1884. That’s the year a federal judge ordered miners to stop using water cannons to batter the Sierra hillsides to separate gold from the soil and rock, but also left behind a broken and ugly landscape. The process, called ...
California
Making Housing More Affordable
Gov. Jerry Brown is an easy target for the conservative- and libertarian-minded, both from within and without of California. He’s in many ways the quintessential big-government Democrat. But not everything Brown does is wrong. Consider, for instance, his level-headed plan for getting government out of the way of developers who ...
California
We Need A Prop 13-Style Ballot Initiative For Gasoline And Diesel Taxes
Attorney General Kamala Harris has reportedly opened an investigation of oil refiners over gasoline prices. But if she truly wants to know why gasoline and diesel cost so much in California, she’ll be grilling the wrong suspects. She should instead investigate the general assembly. Politicians love to conduct oil industry ...
California
Driving Up Labor Costs Drives Down Jobs
Gov. Jerry Brown has advised lawmakers to expect a slowdown in tax revenue, a warning he issued weeks after he signed into law a bill raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022. Maybe he should consider that there’s a connection. When Brown signed the minimum wage ...
California
Putting the Legislature on (72-Hour) Notice
In California, a bill can start in the Legislature with a title like “The Prosperity For All Act,” yet end up being a law regulating the manufacture, sale and use of dog leashes or floor tiles. Or a law that adds another tax. Or a law that does whatever lawmakers ...
Agriculture
Smaller Government Needed in California
As much as the Brexit vote, coming just before Canada’s and America’s own independence celebrations, drove the West’s elitists to call those who don’t agree with them “rubes” and far worse, it also inspired other autonomy movements to increase their efforts to break away from those ruling them from a ...
Prop 57 Contains a Loophole for Violent Criminals
With violent crime increasing in California, it seems reasonable to grant early release to inmates convicted of nonviolent offenses to make room in the prison system for truly dangerous felons. Most of us would be happy to trade an accountant guilty of bilking his employer for a serial rapist. One ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: Reforming California’s Pension System
California governments owe their current and future retirees maybe as much as $600 billion. But the governments aren’t going to pay. Taxpayers will be handed the bill, and in some cities, each household is on the hook for more than $50,000. In at least one municipality, the household share of ...
Cigarette Tax Hike Initiative A Bridge Too Far
It seems there is a never-ending war on “sin” and a desire by some to try and tax it away. This includes higher taxes on snacks and cigarettes, among other items. As to the latter item, California voters will weigh in with a November ballot proposal to hike California’s cigarette ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: Reforming California’s Environmental Policies
The roots of California’s environmental regulations can be traced back to 1884. That’s the year a federal judge ordered miners to stop using water cannons to batter the Sierra hillsides to separate gold from the soil and rock, but also left behind a broken and ugly landscape.
Where’s the Passion for CEQA Reform?
The roots of California’s environmental regulations can be traced back to 1884. That’s the year a federal judge ordered miners to stop using water cannons to batter the Sierra hillsides to separate gold from the soil and rock, but also left behind a broken and ugly landscape. The process, called ...
Making Housing More Affordable
Gov. Jerry Brown is an easy target for the conservative- and libertarian-minded, both from within and without of California. He’s in many ways the quintessential big-government Democrat. But not everything Brown does is wrong. Consider, for instance, his level-headed plan for getting government out of the way of developers who ...
We Need A Prop 13-Style Ballot Initiative For Gasoline And Diesel Taxes
Attorney General Kamala Harris has reportedly opened an investigation of oil refiners over gasoline prices. But if she truly wants to know why gasoline and diesel cost so much in California, she’ll be grilling the wrong suspects. She should instead investigate the general assembly. Politicians love to conduct oil industry ...
Driving Up Labor Costs Drives Down Jobs
Gov. Jerry Brown has advised lawmakers to expect a slowdown in tax revenue, a warning he issued weeks after he signed into law a bill raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022. Maybe he should consider that there’s a connection. When Brown signed the minimum wage ...
Putting the Legislature on (72-Hour) Notice
In California, a bill can start in the Legislature with a title like “The Prosperity For All Act,” yet end up being a law regulating the manufacture, sale and use of dog leashes or floor tiles. Or a law that adds another tax. Or a law that does whatever lawmakers ...
Smaller Government Needed in California
As much as the Brexit vote, coming just before Canada’s and America’s own independence celebrations, drove the West’s elitists to call those who don’t agree with them “rubes” and far worse, it also inspired other autonomy movements to increase their efforts to break away from those ruling them from a ...
