Housing
Blog
The Road (and Funding) to More California Broadband
In August, I detailed the $42 billion broadband grant program proposed in the $3.5 trillion infrastructure package. Not to be outdone, California is pursuing its own broadband grant program expansion. Connectivity to the internet is a must for education and every industry, especially after going through the last 18 months ...
Evan Harris
September 23, 2021
Business & Economics
NEW STUDY: Harmful Policy Choices Driving Employers, Every Age Group and Income Level Away from California
Documenting California’s growing outmigration problem, a new study released today by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute found that harmful policy choices have increased economic and quality-of-life concerns and are chasing businesses, job opportunities, individuals of every age group and income level, and badly needed tax revenue out of state. ...
Pacific Research Institute
September 23, 2021
Blog
California’s Students Desperately Need Housing. College Towns Aren’t Building It.
In the coming weeks, nearly a million Californians will be returning to college campuses across the Golden State as in-person instruction resumes within the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems. Many students, faculty, and staff will be returning to college towns and neighborhoods for the first ...
M. Nolan Gray
September 22, 2021
Blog
When Sacramento Big Spenders Suddenly Become Budget Hawks
On Wednesday, the day after millions of Californians cast ballots in the Newsom recall election, there was a common refrain in Sacramento. Prominent advocates of big government and perpetually increasing government spending were suddenly transformed into budget hawks overnight. Their target of “government waste” – the California recall itself and ...
Tim Anaya
September 17, 2021
Agriculture
AB 701 Guarantees Workers Restroom Breaks . . . and Lawsuits
When states claim to be first at something, it’s usually cause for pride. But in California, it’s often a signal to head for the hills – or rather, to other states. In another first in the nation, the California Legislature passed a bill last week that would require warehouses to ...
Rowena Itchon
September 16, 2021
Blog
How CEQA II Could Be a Hollywood Sequel That Everyone Likes
When then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, into law in 1970, it’s unlikely anyone thought it would eventually be equipped with a warhead and then used to harm business rivals, block development for political rather than environmental reasons, and leverage better labor deals for unions. Yet ...
Kerry Jackson
September 14, 2021
Blog
How NIMBYs Almost Killed Disneyland
The politics of “Not in My Backyard” (NIMBY) have helped to make California one of the most expensive states in the country by blocking the construction of much-needed housing. But did you know that the same impulses once imperiled one of the region’s most iconic institutions, a destination on par ...
M. Nolan Gray
September 13, 2021
Blog
The CDC’s Legally Questionable Extension of the Rent Moratorium
Toddlers are funny little creatures – simultaneously overly dependent and highly independent. With the newfound discovery of willpower, the tiny humans constantly experiment in testing boundaries. My toddler is characteristically sweet and obedient. But there is one rule she delights in breaking: dumping out the dog’s water bowl. Testing limits, ...
McKenzie Richards
September 9, 2021
California
Fact-Checked: Gavin Newsom Shouldn’t Have Dared Us
By Kerry Jackson and Wayne Winegarden In an interview performance that has been described as “unhinged,” “odd,” “testy,” and “angry,” Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed Texas middle-class families “pay more taxes than middle-class families in California.” “Look that up,” he said in a virtual meeting with editorial and opinion writers from ...
Pacific Research Institute
September 2, 2021
Blog
The Great California Exodus to the Desert
The results of the 2020 Census are out, and they aren’t pretty for the Golden State, with California set to lose a House seat for the first time in history. While states like Texas and Florida boomed over the past decades, the population of California—along with struggling states like Illinois—has ...
M. Nolan Gray
August 30, 2021
The Road (and Funding) to More California Broadband
In August, I detailed the $42 billion broadband grant program proposed in the $3.5 trillion infrastructure package. Not to be outdone, California is pursuing its own broadband grant program expansion. Connectivity to the internet is a must for education and every industry, especially after going through the last 18 months ...
NEW STUDY: Harmful Policy Choices Driving Employers, Every Age Group and Income Level Away from California
Documenting California’s growing outmigration problem, a new study released today by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute found that harmful policy choices have increased economic and quality-of-life concerns and are chasing businesses, job opportunities, individuals of every age group and income level, and badly needed tax revenue out of state. ...
California’s Students Desperately Need Housing. College Towns Aren’t Building It.
In the coming weeks, nearly a million Californians will be returning to college campuses across the Golden State as in-person instruction resumes within the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems. Many students, faculty, and staff will be returning to college towns and neighborhoods for the first ...
When Sacramento Big Spenders Suddenly Become Budget Hawks
On Wednesday, the day after millions of Californians cast ballots in the Newsom recall election, there was a common refrain in Sacramento. Prominent advocates of big government and perpetually increasing government spending were suddenly transformed into budget hawks overnight. Their target of “government waste” – the California recall itself and ...
AB 701 Guarantees Workers Restroom Breaks . . . and Lawsuits
When states claim to be first at something, it’s usually cause for pride. But in California, it’s often a signal to head for the hills – or rather, to other states. In another first in the nation, the California Legislature passed a bill last week that would require warehouses to ...
How CEQA II Could Be a Hollywood Sequel That Everyone Likes
When then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, into law in 1970, it’s unlikely anyone thought it would eventually be equipped with a warhead and then used to harm business rivals, block development for political rather than environmental reasons, and leverage better labor deals for unions. Yet ...
How NIMBYs Almost Killed Disneyland
The politics of “Not in My Backyard” (NIMBY) have helped to make California one of the most expensive states in the country by blocking the construction of much-needed housing. But did you know that the same impulses once imperiled one of the region’s most iconic institutions, a destination on par ...
The CDC’s Legally Questionable Extension of the Rent Moratorium
Toddlers are funny little creatures – simultaneously overly dependent and highly independent. With the newfound discovery of willpower, the tiny humans constantly experiment in testing boundaries. My toddler is characteristically sweet and obedient. But there is one rule she delights in breaking: dumping out the dog’s water bowl. Testing limits, ...
Fact-Checked: Gavin Newsom Shouldn’t Have Dared Us
By Kerry Jackson and Wayne Winegarden In an interview performance that has been described as “unhinged,” “odd,” “testy,” and “angry,” Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed Texas middle-class families “pay more taxes than middle-class families in California.” “Look that up,” he said in a virtual meeting with editorial and opinion writers from ...
The Great California Exodus to the Desert
The results of the 2020 Census are out, and they aren’t pretty for the Golden State, with California set to lose a House seat for the first time in history. While states like Texas and Florida boomed over the past decades, the population of California—along with struggling states like Illinois—has ...