California
California
Expanding SF Restaurant Surcharge Statewide is a Bad Idea
Dining at a premium San Francisco restaurant will always be expensive. But add in the cost of The City’s health care surcharge and eating out, even at modest and lesser establishments, is even more expensive. What’s more, one gubernatorial candidate wants to expand the program that requires the surcharge to ...
Kerry Jackson
January 7, 2018
Commentary
ObamaCare Faces Two Existential Challenges In 2018
It’s a New Year — but not a happy one for ObamaCare’s defenders. Two recent developments could lead to the collapse of the health law’s exchanges. First, the Trump administration will soon announce that it will allow insurers to sell “short-term” health plans that last up to 364 days. Currently, insurers ...
Sally C. Pipes
January 5, 2018
Blog
Social Security Beneficiaries Reach an All-Time High
An oft-cited survey from 1994 found that one out of every three respondents age 18 and 34 said they were more likely to see a UFO than receive a Social Security check. Fast forward 23 years later — last November, the U.S. reached a record number of Social Security beneficiaries ...
Rowena Itchon
January 5, 2018
California
What’s Next for Net Neutrality in California?
Early last year, several states, including California, began to consider various forms of online privacy legislation. Most of these efforts failed, including in the Golden State, in part because such moves would have actually placed citizen’s privacy at greater jeopardy. But with the recent vote by the Federal Communications Commission ...
Bartlett Cleland
January 4, 2018
Blog
New Studies Confirm the Obvious – $15 Minimum Wage Hurts California Job Opportunities
The negative impacts of setting — and increasing — minimum wages should be beyond debate by now. The economic science is settled. Yet California policymakers continue to believe in unicorn economic fantasies. For example, more than a dozen cities and counties in the Bay Area have changed their minimum-wage ordinances ...
Kerry Jackson
January 4, 2018
Blog
With Silicon Valley Exodus Looming, Lawmakers Must Make Tax Relief Top 2018 Priority
Last week, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said in an interview that tech companies are already beginning an exodus away from expensive coastal areas such as Silicon Valley and Los Angeles toward more affordable cities in America’s heartland. He said that the trend will likely be accelerated in response to the ...
Tim Anaya
January 3, 2018
Blog
Help Us Make 2018 A Great Year for Freedom
With the end of the year upon us, what better time to talk about all that we have accomplished at the Pacific Research Institute in 2017. In the past 12 months, we have: promoted policies that expand access to high-quality education through school choice, charter schools, and digital learning opportunities ...
Ben Smithwick
December 29, 2017
Business & Economics
2018’s challenge: Too many jobs, not enough workers
By Danielle Paquette Employers nationwide are grappling with a problem that threatens to stall economic growth: vacancies — and lots of them. In Maine, where flurries can fall as late as April, the state transportation department is struggling to find snowplow drivers, thanks to the increasingly tight labor market. Ski resorts in ...
Pacific Research Institute
December 28, 2017
Blog
California Can Expect More of the Same from Sacramento in 2018
There are no fortune tellers at PRI, but it isn’t hard to foresee what is likely to happen in California in 2018. First, it’s a sure bet that the Legislature will pass a boxcar load of unneeded, heavy-handed and odious policies when lawmakers reconvene on Jan. 3. One that will ...
Kerry Jackson
December 28, 2017
California
First Annual PRI Year-End Awards
Listen to a special holiday episode of PRI’s podcast as Sally Pipes, Rowena Itchon, Lance Izumi, Tim Anaya, and Ben Smithwick review the year in policy in 2017, hand out their year-end awards, and make their predictions for 2018 – in the style of The McLaughlin Group.
Pacific Research Institute
December 25, 2017
Expanding SF Restaurant Surcharge Statewide is a Bad Idea
Dining at a premium San Francisco restaurant will always be expensive. But add in the cost of The City’s health care surcharge and eating out, even at modest and lesser establishments, is even more expensive. What’s more, one gubernatorial candidate wants to expand the program that requires the surcharge to ...
ObamaCare Faces Two Existential Challenges In 2018
It’s a New Year — but not a happy one for ObamaCare’s defenders. Two recent developments could lead to the collapse of the health law’s exchanges. First, the Trump administration will soon announce that it will allow insurers to sell “short-term” health plans that last up to 364 days. Currently, insurers ...
Social Security Beneficiaries Reach an All-Time High
An oft-cited survey from 1994 found that one out of every three respondents age 18 and 34 said they were more likely to see a UFO than receive a Social Security check. Fast forward 23 years later — last November, the U.S. reached a record number of Social Security beneficiaries ...
What’s Next for Net Neutrality in California?
Early last year, several states, including California, began to consider various forms of online privacy legislation. Most of these efforts failed, including in the Golden State, in part because such moves would have actually placed citizen’s privacy at greater jeopardy. But with the recent vote by the Federal Communications Commission ...
New Studies Confirm the Obvious – $15 Minimum Wage Hurts California Job Opportunities
The negative impacts of setting — and increasing — minimum wages should be beyond debate by now. The economic science is settled. Yet California policymakers continue to believe in unicorn economic fantasies. For example, more than a dozen cities and counties in the Bay Area have changed their minimum-wage ordinances ...
With Silicon Valley Exodus Looming, Lawmakers Must Make Tax Relief Top 2018 Priority
Last week, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said in an interview that tech companies are already beginning an exodus away from expensive coastal areas such as Silicon Valley and Los Angeles toward more affordable cities in America’s heartland. He said that the trend will likely be accelerated in response to the ...
Help Us Make 2018 A Great Year for Freedom
With the end of the year upon us, what better time to talk about all that we have accomplished at the Pacific Research Institute in 2017. In the past 12 months, we have: promoted policies that expand access to high-quality education through school choice, charter schools, and digital learning opportunities ...
2018’s challenge: Too many jobs, not enough workers
By Danielle Paquette Employers nationwide are grappling with a problem that threatens to stall economic growth: vacancies — and lots of them. In Maine, where flurries can fall as late as April, the state transportation department is struggling to find snowplow drivers, thanks to the increasingly tight labor market. Ski resorts in ...
California Can Expect More of the Same from Sacramento in 2018
There are no fortune tellers at PRI, but it isn’t hard to foresee what is likely to happen in California in 2018. First, it’s a sure bet that the Legislature will pass a boxcar load of unneeded, heavy-handed and odious policies when lawmakers reconvene on Jan. 3. One that will ...
First Annual PRI Year-End Awards
Listen to a special holiday episode of PRI’s podcast as Sally Pipes, Rowena Itchon, Lance Izumi, Tim Anaya, and Ben Smithwick review the year in policy in 2017, hand out their year-end awards, and make their predictions for 2018 – in the style of The McLaughlin Group.