California
California
Addressing California’s Insurance Crisis
From PRI’s 2026 California Ideas in Action Conference, hear Free Cities Center director Steven Greenhut moderate a panel with some of the state’s top policy insiders and elected officials exploring the ongoing challenges facing Californias insurance industry, which were exacerbated by last year’s Southern California wildfires.
Blog
California Can’t Address Affordability Crisis Without Lowering Tax Burden
“(We need) someone who will bring prices down,” Rep. Eric Swalwell says. “Californians can’t afford to live in California,” says billionaire Tom Steyer. They’re both right, but they should look in the mirror for a culprit. Big government policies –including several they are promoting in their platforms – are driving ...
California
Building more is the key to affordability
California policymakers are obsessed with boosting “affordable housing,” which makes sense when housing in the state is out of reach to a large portion of its residents. They’re trying to solve the problem from the wrong end, though. The supply of affordable housing is best expanded not by focusing on ...
Blog
LAX People Mover Is Yet Another Infrastructure Failure In CA
The LAX automated people mover project, begun in 2019, was supposed to be completed about three years ago, but it remains closed to service with no new opening date in sight. The automated people mover (APM) will be an electric rail line, 2.25 miles long that travels over an elevated ...
Blog
California Risks Deepening Home Insurance Crisis with Latest Bills
One measure, Senate Bill 876, would establish accelerated timelines for insurers to pay the cash value of both damaged property and associated replacement costs in the event of an emergency. Residential property insurance policies would have to offer at least 50% extra replacement coverage beyond the policy’s stated limit. To ...
California
A Conversation with U.S. Attorney Eric Grant
This week, we present another special episode in a series featuring highlights from PRI’s recent California Ideas in Action conference. Free Cities Center director Steven Greenhut sits down with new U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Sacramento, Eric Grant. They discuss ongoing legal battles between the federal government and the state ...
Blog
What Gavin Newsom Accidentally Admitted to Ben Shapiro
The conversation offered a chance to see how the governor responds when pressed by a critic. One of those moments came when Shapiro challenged Newsom’s office calling ICE operations in Minnesota “state-sponsored terrorism.” Shapiro pointed out that whatever people think about federal immigration policy, ICE officers are not terrorists. Language ...
Blog
Another Tax That Backfired
Passed in 2022 by nearly 58% of Angeleno voters, Measure ULA initially imposes an additional 4% tax on the sales of any homes or commercial properties, not just mansions, valued at more than $5.3 million. The rate on sales of properties sold at more than $10.6 million rises to 5.5%. The dollars coming in are dedicated ...
Blog
California’s Sanctuary State Paradox
Gov. Gavin Newsom has repeatedly argued that California cooperates with federal authorities to deport violent criminals who are in the country illegally—an assertion that appears to conflict with the state’s sanctuary reputation. In a recent interview with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, Newsom said that more than 10,000 criminals were deported during ...
Blog
Death by a Thousand Cuts: Andrew Gruel on the Cost of Regulations for California Restaurants
The challenge is not a single overwhelming regulation, it is accumulation. California layers rule upon rule, each one defensible on its own. Over time, those requirements reshape how restaurants hire, price, expand (or not), and compete. What appears manageable on paper becomes costly in practice. Restaurants are high-transaction, high-labor businesses. ...
Addressing California’s Insurance Crisis
From PRI’s 2026 California Ideas in Action Conference, hear Free Cities Center director Steven Greenhut moderate a panel with some of the state’s top policy insiders and elected officials exploring the ongoing challenges facing Californias insurance industry, which were exacerbated by last year’s Southern California wildfires.
California Can’t Address Affordability Crisis Without Lowering Tax Burden
“(We need) someone who will bring prices down,” Rep. Eric Swalwell says. “Californians can’t afford to live in California,” says billionaire Tom Steyer. They’re both right, but they should look in the mirror for a culprit. Big government policies –including several they are promoting in their platforms – are driving ...
Building more is the key to affordability
California policymakers are obsessed with boosting “affordable housing,” which makes sense when housing in the state is out of reach to a large portion of its residents. They’re trying to solve the problem from the wrong end, though. The supply of affordable housing is best expanded not by focusing on ...
LAX People Mover Is Yet Another Infrastructure Failure In CA
The LAX automated people mover project, begun in 2019, was supposed to be completed about three years ago, but it remains closed to service with no new opening date in sight. The automated people mover (APM) will be an electric rail line, 2.25 miles long that travels over an elevated ...
California Risks Deepening Home Insurance Crisis with Latest Bills
One measure, Senate Bill 876, would establish accelerated timelines for insurers to pay the cash value of both damaged property and associated replacement costs in the event of an emergency. Residential property insurance policies would have to offer at least 50% extra replacement coverage beyond the policy’s stated limit. To ...
A Conversation with U.S. Attorney Eric Grant
This week, we present another special episode in a series featuring highlights from PRI’s recent California Ideas in Action conference. Free Cities Center director Steven Greenhut sits down with new U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Sacramento, Eric Grant. They discuss ongoing legal battles between the federal government and the state ...
What Gavin Newsom Accidentally Admitted to Ben Shapiro
The conversation offered a chance to see how the governor responds when pressed by a critic. One of those moments came when Shapiro challenged Newsom’s office calling ICE operations in Minnesota “state-sponsored terrorism.” Shapiro pointed out that whatever people think about federal immigration policy, ICE officers are not terrorists. Language ...
Another Tax That Backfired
Passed in 2022 by nearly 58% of Angeleno voters, Measure ULA initially imposes an additional 4% tax on the sales of any homes or commercial properties, not just mansions, valued at more than $5.3 million. The rate on sales of properties sold at more than $10.6 million rises to 5.5%. The dollars coming in are dedicated ...
California’s Sanctuary State Paradox
Gov. Gavin Newsom has repeatedly argued that California cooperates with federal authorities to deport violent criminals who are in the country illegally—an assertion that appears to conflict with the state’s sanctuary reputation. In a recent interview with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, Newsom said that more than 10,000 criminals were deported during ...
Death by a Thousand Cuts: Andrew Gruel on the Cost of Regulations for California Restaurants
The challenge is not a single overwhelming regulation, it is accumulation. California layers rule upon rule, each one defensible on its own. Over time, those requirements reshape how restaurants hire, price, expand (or not), and compete. What appears manageable on paper becomes costly in practice. Restaurants are high-transaction, high-labor businesses. ...