Rowena Itchon
Blog
Ending the “Era of Shareholder Capitalism”
Last week, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden unveiled his economic platform in Pennsylvania, calling for an end to the “era of shareholder capitalism.” It seems that Jack Lew, former treasury secretary and a member of the Biden brain trust, neglected to tell him that more than half of U.S. families ...
Blog
Senate Strikes a Blow to California’s Smallest Businesses by Mandating Family Leave
As if small businesses weren’t hurting enough, California’s senate voted last week to pass Gov. Newsom’s proposal to mandate job-protected family leave for businesses with as few as five workers. If SB 1383 becomes law, very small business would be forced to hold open a job for up to three ...
Blog
SB 1410 Would Give Renters a Decade to Pay Rent
When Tim Anaya first told me about a California senate bill that would give renters who lost their jobs during the coronavirus shutdown until 2034 to pay back their rent, I thought I didn’t hear him right: “Did you say 2024?” (I thought four years was plenty.) But yes, dear readers, he said 2034. It’s no typo either. SB 1410 would force landlords to enter into a “rent stabilization agreement” with the tenant, and prohibits the landlord ...
Blog
PRI Fellow Erik Jaffe on Recent and Upcoming SCOTUS Decisions
Last week’s podcast featured PRI fellow and attorney Erik Jaffe, an expert in constitutional law. We asked Erik to give us his perspective on the U.S. Supreme Court’s major cases this session — LGBTQ rights, DACA, abortion regulation, and Trump’s financial records, as well as predict the high court’s decisions. ...
Blog
ACA 5 Establishes a Racial Spoils System
The California Assembly voted last week to place on the November ballot an initiative to repeal Prop. 209, the 1996 constitutional amendment ending preferential treatment based on race and sex in public education, employment, and government contracting. ACA 5 would end achievement through merit and turn the state into a ...
Blog
Memo to Small Business: We’re from the government and we’re here to help
Across the state, main streets have gone from being closed to being boarded. For California entrepreneurs, doing business in the state has hit a new low. It’s too early to get insurance data on what the vandalism, arson, and looting has cost business owners across the state. Worse, because of ...
Blog
Racial Preferences Returning to California?
It’s said that timing is everything — it’s especially true in politics. And it’s why those who want to bring back racial preferences in California’s public education, government employment and contracting, chose the here and now to try and repeal Prop. 209, the 1996 California ballot measure that ended these ...
Blog
Coronavirus Chronicles: A Small Business Recession Could Turn into a Depression
Year to date, the Dow Index of the U.S.’s 30 largest companies is down 14 percent; the S&P 500, which tracks 500 large-cap companies, is down 8 percent; and the NASDAQ, an electronic system that trades many of the world’s fastest growing companies, is up more than 4 percent. Clearly, ...
Blog
Coronavirus Chronicles: States Want Bailout for Past Profligate Spending
Even as House members consider themselves non-essential workers (they’ve decided to vote from home), it hasn’t stopped some lawmakers from coming up with bad ideas for the next stimulus package, including relief for states and municipalities with pre-existing economic conditions. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week at his ...
Blog
Coronavirus Chronicles: Why for Some Workers, Unemployment Makes More Sense
Roughly 30 million people have filed for unemployment since the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the nation’s economy. Economists estimate that the unemployment rate now ranges from 15 to 20 percent – numbers not seen since the Great Depression nearly a century ago. How H How quickly the economy bounces ...
Ending the “Era of Shareholder Capitalism”
Last week, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden unveiled his economic platform in Pennsylvania, calling for an end to the “era of shareholder capitalism.” It seems that Jack Lew, former treasury secretary and a member of the Biden brain trust, neglected to tell him that more than half of U.S. families ...
Senate Strikes a Blow to California’s Smallest Businesses by Mandating Family Leave
As if small businesses weren’t hurting enough, California’s senate voted last week to pass Gov. Newsom’s proposal to mandate job-protected family leave for businesses with as few as five workers. If SB 1383 becomes law, very small business would be forced to hold open a job for up to three ...
SB 1410 Would Give Renters a Decade to Pay Rent
When Tim Anaya first told me about a California senate bill that would give renters who lost their jobs during the coronavirus shutdown until 2034 to pay back their rent, I thought I didn’t hear him right: “Did you say 2024?” (I thought four years was plenty.) But yes, dear readers, he said 2034. It’s no typo either. SB 1410 would force landlords to enter into a “rent stabilization agreement” with the tenant, and prohibits the landlord ...
PRI Fellow Erik Jaffe on Recent and Upcoming SCOTUS Decisions
Last week’s podcast featured PRI fellow and attorney Erik Jaffe, an expert in constitutional law. We asked Erik to give us his perspective on the U.S. Supreme Court’s major cases this session — LGBTQ rights, DACA, abortion regulation, and Trump’s financial records, as well as predict the high court’s decisions. ...
ACA 5 Establishes a Racial Spoils System
The California Assembly voted last week to place on the November ballot an initiative to repeal Prop. 209, the 1996 constitutional amendment ending preferential treatment based on race and sex in public education, employment, and government contracting. ACA 5 would end achievement through merit and turn the state into a ...
Memo to Small Business: We’re from the government and we’re here to help
Across the state, main streets have gone from being closed to being boarded. For California entrepreneurs, doing business in the state has hit a new low. It’s too early to get insurance data on what the vandalism, arson, and looting has cost business owners across the state. Worse, because of ...
Racial Preferences Returning to California?
It’s said that timing is everything — it’s especially true in politics. And it’s why those who want to bring back racial preferences in California’s public education, government employment and contracting, chose the here and now to try and repeal Prop. 209, the 1996 California ballot measure that ended these ...
Coronavirus Chronicles: A Small Business Recession Could Turn into a Depression
Year to date, the Dow Index of the U.S.’s 30 largest companies is down 14 percent; the S&P 500, which tracks 500 large-cap companies, is down 8 percent; and the NASDAQ, an electronic system that trades many of the world’s fastest growing companies, is up more than 4 percent. Clearly, ...
Coronavirus Chronicles: States Want Bailout for Past Profligate Spending
Even as House members consider themselves non-essential workers (they’ve decided to vote from home), it hasn’t stopped some lawmakers from coming up with bad ideas for the next stimulus package, including relief for states and municipalities with pre-existing economic conditions. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week at his ...
Coronavirus Chronicles: Why for Some Workers, Unemployment Makes More Sense
Roughly 30 million people have filed for unemployment since the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the nation’s economy. Economists estimate that the unemployment rate now ranges from 15 to 20 percent – numbers not seen since the Great Depression nearly a century ago. How H How quickly the economy bounces ...
