Tim Anaya
Blog
Is Push to Lower Local Tax Threshold About Funding Vital Projects or Funding Public Pensions?
Yesterday, my colleague Rowena Itchon wrote about Sacramento’s “taxfest” – the various proposals introduced this year to raise taxes on hard-working Californians. That’s only part of the story. A group of lawmakers wants to make it easier to raise local taxes. Thanks to Proposition 13, a two-thirds vote of the ...
Tim Anaya
April 9, 2019
Blog
2 Reforms That Will Help Fix DMV’s Motor Voter Scandal
I’ve written extensively about the ongoing troubles at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Last year, the DMV first made headlines with the scandal over long wait times brought about by a lack of any realistic plan to help millions of Californians update their licenses to comply with the federal Real ...
Tim Anaya
April 2, 2019
Blog
Estate Tax Bill Will Do Nothing to Reduce California’s Wealth Gap
You would think that California’s current $21.4 billion budget surplus would be plenty of money to fund the spending wish list of those thwarted over the past 8 years by former Gov. Jerry Brown’s adherence to the principle of subsidiarity. Think again. In fact, much of the talk in Sacramento ...
Tim Anaya
March 28, 2019
Blog
Justice for Crime Victims Isn’t a “Bedrock Value” in Gavin Newsom’s California
Gov. Gavin Newsom triggered a firestorm on Wednesday by signing an executive order ordering a moratorium on the death penalty. His action effectively grants a reprieve from lethal injections for the state’s 737 death row inmates. According to Politico, his action will most benefit the 24 death row inmates who ...
Tim Anaya
March 18, 2019
Blog
Will Legislature Act This Year to Keep our Kids SAFE? History Says Probably Not
This week on PRI’s “Next Round” podcast, I sit down with Senator Mike Morrell, R-Rancho Cucamonga. Among the topics that we discussed was his legislation to ensure safer schools for all students (Senate Bill 709), also known as the Sexual Abuse-Free Education (SAFE) Act. Right now, there’s a growing problem ...
Tim Anaya
March 12, 2019
Blog
Can Free Market Ideas Bring More Political Balance to California?
Last week, PRI held its inaugural “California Ideas in Action” policy conference in Sacramento. A capacity crowd came together near the State Capitol for a half-day conference exploring how free-market ideas can address California’s most pressing challenges. Legendary Sacramento political reporter and current CALmatters columnist Dan Walters was the event’s ...
Tim Anaya
March 7, 2019
Blog
Latest Attack on “Big Gulps” Would Hurt Poor, Infringe Upon our Freedom
With great fanfare, a group of Democratic lawmakers announced last week their latest effort targeting people who commit the worst social faux pas imaginable – drinking a Big Gulp! Led by Bay Area Democrat Assemblyman Rob Bonta, lawmakers introduced legislation attacking the scourge of so-called “big soda”, including bills limiting ...
Tim Anaya
February 25, 2019
Blog
What We’re Watching – Presidents Day Edition
In lieu of our usual blog fare today, we present a special “What We’re Watching” in salute to America’s presidents. So, I love these profiles of various American presidents by comedian Mo Rocca that have aired on “CBS Sunday Morning” over the years. Here’s an interesting one on a President ...
Tim Anaya
February 18, 2019
Blog
Newsom Eats More Cake in First State of the State
A few weeks back, in writing about Gov. Newsom’s first budget proposal – I noted that the Governor was demonstrating how one could have his cake and eat it, too, in his spending plan for the state. As I watched the Governor’s first State of the State address yesterday, it’s ...
Tim Anaya
February 13, 2019
Blog
New Polling Shows Free Market Ideas Still Hold Sway in Liberal California
The first weeks of 2019 have been dominated by the push from emboldened Sacramento liberals to enact measures increasing our tax burden, imposing new regulations on employers, and taking away some of our personal freedom. Most observers argue, based on the massive 2018 Democrat victories, that voters were giving a ...
Tim Anaya
February 11, 2019
Is Push to Lower Local Tax Threshold About Funding Vital Projects or Funding Public Pensions?
Yesterday, my colleague Rowena Itchon wrote about Sacramento’s “taxfest” – the various proposals introduced this year to raise taxes on hard-working Californians. That’s only part of the story. A group of lawmakers wants to make it easier to raise local taxes. Thanks to Proposition 13, a two-thirds vote of the ...
2 Reforms That Will Help Fix DMV’s Motor Voter Scandal
I’ve written extensively about the ongoing troubles at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Last year, the DMV first made headlines with the scandal over long wait times brought about by a lack of any realistic plan to help millions of Californians update their licenses to comply with the federal Real ...
Estate Tax Bill Will Do Nothing to Reduce California’s Wealth Gap
You would think that California’s current $21.4 billion budget surplus would be plenty of money to fund the spending wish list of those thwarted over the past 8 years by former Gov. Jerry Brown’s adherence to the principle of subsidiarity. Think again. In fact, much of the talk in Sacramento ...
Justice for Crime Victims Isn’t a “Bedrock Value” in Gavin Newsom’s California
Gov. Gavin Newsom triggered a firestorm on Wednesday by signing an executive order ordering a moratorium on the death penalty. His action effectively grants a reprieve from lethal injections for the state’s 737 death row inmates. According to Politico, his action will most benefit the 24 death row inmates who ...
Will Legislature Act This Year to Keep our Kids SAFE? History Says Probably Not
This week on PRI’s “Next Round” podcast, I sit down with Senator Mike Morrell, R-Rancho Cucamonga. Among the topics that we discussed was his legislation to ensure safer schools for all students (Senate Bill 709), also known as the Sexual Abuse-Free Education (SAFE) Act. Right now, there’s a growing problem ...
Can Free Market Ideas Bring More Political Balance to California?
Last week, PRI held its inaugural “California Ideas in Action” policy conference in Sacramento. A capacity crowd came together near the State Capitol for a half-day conference exploring how free-market ideas can address California’s most pressing challenges. Legendary Sacramento political reporter and current CALmatters columnist Dan Walters was the event’s ...
Latest Attack on “Big Gulps” Would Hurt Poor, Infringe Upon our Freedom
With great fanfare, a group of Democratic lawmakers announced last week their latest effort targeting people who commit the worst social faux pas imaginable – drinking a Big Gulp! Led by Bay Area Democrat Assemblyman Rob Bonta, lawmakers introduced legislation attacking the scourge of so-called “big soda”, including bills limiting ...
What We’re Watching – Presidents Day Edition
In lieu of our usual blog fare today, we present a special “What We’re Watching” in salute to America’s presidents. So, I love these profiles of various American presidents by comedian Mo Rocca that have aired on “CBS Sunday Morning” over the years. Here’s an interesting one on a President ...
Newsom Eats More Cake in First State of the State
A few weeks back, in writing about Gov. Newsom’s first budget proposal – I noted that the Governor was demonstrating how one could have his cake and eat it, too, in his spending plan for the state. As I watched the Governor’s first State of the State address yesterday, it’s ...
New Polling Shows Free Market Ideas Still Hold Sway in Liberal California
The first weeks of 2019 have been dominated by the push from emboldened Sacramento liberals to enact measures increasing our tax burden, imposing new regulations on employers, and taking away some of our personal freedom. Most observers argue, based on the massive 2018 Democrat victories, that voters were giving a ...